Bad People
by these-dreams-go-on
Summary: Cont- From my One-Shots Bad Girl's Don't and Bad Boy's Don't. After realizing just how strong their feelings for one another are, Caroline and Klaus begin an affair which they struggle to keep secret from everyone while the typical chaos reigns in Mystic Falls and they find themselves questioning what kind of people they really are. Klaroline all the way. Pre-Season 4
1. Chapter 1

A/N- I have an essay due soon which means...procrasti-writing!  
First section is Morning People, this story is a continuation of Bad Boy's Don't and Bad Girl's Don't, I'd suggest you read those two one-shots first as they set the scene.  
Disclaimer- I own nothing associated with TVD or TO.

* * *

Caroline Forbes was exhausted as she climbed out of the shower and barely remembered to wrap the towel around her body before walking to her bedroom.

Sleep was a little harder to come by for her these days.

Not only did she have to chair _three_ different Prom committees, not to mention the various charities around town- which all wanted to throw events this summer- she also had to worry about the Founding Family council throwing vervein in the water supply, the weird 'animal' attacks that kept popping up throughout the forest which surprisingly had nothing to do with Damon or any of the other various supernaturals in town.

And on the off chance she was able to snatch eight hours in her bed there was always the dreams and fantasies of Klaus ripping off her clothes and ravaging her body running rampant through her mind.

So when she does step into her bedroom to find the Original hybrid sprawled on her bed she momentarily panics thinking she's caught in another dream.

But the slow smile spreading across his face has her body tingling in a way the dreams could never do, she bites her lower lip and matches his grin, suddenly all too aware that there's only a thin towel, faded red t-shirt, jeans and a pair of silk boxers preventing total nudity.

 _"Caroline!"_

She gasps and quickly slams her door shut, definitely wide awake now because her mother _never ever_ makes an appearance in her sex dreams.

Thank God.

"Yeah mom?" Caroline calls through the door, rolling her eyes at Klaus who only shrugs with complete nonchalance. His bright blue eyes are fixated on the hem line of her towel, travelling up slowly to where it's tucked in just above her breasts. He raises his eyebrows hopefully and she purses her lips to keep from laughing at his suggestion.

"Do you want me to grab you lunch today honey?" Liz shouts from the hall as she gets ready for work,

"I know you hate the cafeteria food and I'm going past your favourite deli anyway…"

"That'd be great thanks! Turkey club please"

She sexily shimmies down the door and back up again with a teasing smile on her face, careful to arch her back so that the towel doesn't get caught against the wood before running her fingers down her chest to where with one simple tug she'd be bearing herself to Klaus' all too eager eyes.

She knows she should be panicking right now.

She's got the Original hybrid hanging out in her bedroom with dishonest intentions while her armed mother is barely ten feet away.

If she caught them…well it wouldn't be pretty.

But the risk of being caught gives her a thrill that has her blood pumping and her body heating up, desire already pooling in her stomach just having him in such close proximity when she's so undressed.

With an artistic flourish she pulls her hand away from the towel, leaving it wrapped around her body and he pouts with disappointment. She just shrugs, and sashays over to her closet with more sway in her walk than strictly necessary, pulling it open and deciding that she'll wear her black boots today.

For no other reason than they're at the bottom of her closet and she'll have to bend right over to grab them giving Klaus a nice view.

A hand darts between her thighs and fingers teasingly wiggle across her juncture before pinching her backside. She straightens up with a squeal of surprise and spins around to find the suspect not even a foot away from her,

" _Klaus!_ "

" _Shush_ " he cheekily presses a finger to his lips, "Can't have mother finding out there's a monster intent on despoiling her precious, virtuous daughter"

She snorts at that. By this point she and Klaus have already told each other, in explicit detail with demonstration, about all the ways they planned to _despoil_ one another once they got the chance.

"Bye sweetie!"

"Bye mom!" Caroline shouts back as the jangle of the front door closing and the footfalls on the pavement told her that they were finally alone.

In one fluid movement she jumps up and wraps her legs around Klaus' waist, arching her hips so she can feel his denim clad erection against her core, he catches her in his arms and speeds them over to the bed, dropping her down on the pillows and pressing his lips against hers in a hungry and thirsty kiss.

She cups his face to hold him in place as she kisses him again and again, not even considering breaking for air until the last possible moment.

"Shirt off" she gasps, her head falling back on the pillows as she catches her breath.

The red material ends up hanging by her bed post and she whimpers with delight to see his bare chest again as he kneels over her, before pulling him down for another kiss their lips, teeth and tongues clashing together as they try to consume one another. She can feel his body rubbing against hers and loves the sensation of him between her thighs.

"Towel" Klaus growls as he buries his face in her neck, kissing and nipping at the flesh,

"Don't bite" she warns him, running her fingers through his hair and wrapping an arm around his bare shoulders, "I have school today"

"Towel" he repeats stubbornly, gripping the offending material in hand, his jeans scratching her thighs as his body moves over hers, the weight of him making her burn with desire,

She smiles and pushes him away, he places a hand on either side of her head and hovers over her as she props herself up on her elbows and keeps her hungry eyes locked with his as she slowly, slowly tugs the towel loose and lets the two ends slide down her body to the bed, baring herself before him.

He gives her a devilish grin of satisfaction and with a quick peck on the lips begins a trail of wet kisses down to between her breasts, he outlines her left breast, circling it determinedly and making her squirm with desire before latching on to her nipple, laving it with his tongue and sucking the pebble between his teeth. She moans and rolls her hips, her breathing shallow as her arousal seeps between her folds.

When he is done, he raises his head to give her a teasing look, blowing a thin stream of air on her wet breast before moving to the right one, however his hand reaches up to massage the globe, pinching and soothing the nipple in equal turns as she bucked underneath him.

"Klaus…" she pants as his tongue traces her areole and his teeth scrape her skin, "I'm close…"

He doesn't answer but thrusts his hips against hers as he sucked and pinched her breasts, the denim rubbing against her juncture and she came with a silent cry.

She grabs his shoulder and rolls him over onto his back, straddling his hips as she kisses him wildly, her hair falling over their faces as she runs her hands down to his belt, unbuckling and throwing it across the room where it hit the wall. She yanks his jeans down to his thighs and grins when his erection comes free,

"Someone's pleased to see me" she teases and he chuckles,

"I don't know sweetheart, the last time it was left wanting quite terribly, I wouldn't think…oh"

She wrapped a hand around him and stroked him from head to base, "You were saying?" she prompts as he groans, "Oh just like that Caroline"

She smiles in triumph, "I thought so"

He's alive under her hand, swollen and large, hot and…

She jumps and swears as her phone starts ringing.

"Ignore it" he groans, "Bloody hell Caroline I'm about to…"

His phone starts ringing just as he comes apart in her hand, making a mess and she looks helplessly at her buzzing phone before he picks it up and swipes the screen, sliding it into her clean, left hand before taking his own phone and flashing out of the room,

"Hello?"

"Caroline?" Elena's voice rings clear in her room "Why weren't you picking up?"

"Umm…I'm getting ready for school" she lies as she checks her clock and figures she's going to have to miss first period unless she wants to walk down the hallways reeking of sex.

No way in hell.

"Well there's been another attack in the woods" Elena reports, "Some frat boys home for the weekend were found ripped to shreds"

"Urgh…no!" Caroline throws her head back, "Dammit, there's meant to be a picnic at the Quarry this weekend"

In the living room she hears Klaus choke on his laughter,

"Listen" she tells her best friend as she grabs her towel and heads back to the bathroom,

"I'll see you in English"

She hangs up before Elena can start discussing some other topic- like which Salvatore she's currently in love with- and rolls her eyes as Klaus ends his call,

"Two frat boys found dead" he reports disinterestedly, "And somehow managing to cockblock us from beyond the grave"

She huffs in annoyance and grabs his hand, "Come on" she drags him into the bathroom,  
"I have to get to school and you are not walking around town covered in my scent"

"I do love it when you're in control love" he grins as she turns on the shower and she laughs,

"Get in bad boy"

* * *

Lousy bloody _swine_.

Why did people have to keep dropping like poisoned flies?

Honestly, even by Mystic Falls standards this was starting to get ridiculous and the damn calls always seemed to be coming through whenever he was on the verge of finally getting past the foreplay stage with Caroline.

Who had to be as frustrated as him if her colourful, slightly alarming vocabulary of curse words was anything to go on, he'd heard sailors with cleaner tongues than her.

Of course every time a body showed up he was always questioned as the primary suspect- which he completely understands, he would suspect himself every time as well but it's still outrageously inconvenient to have to tramp out to the middle of nowhere- why didn't people ever dump bodies in alleyways in this damn town?!- and look Sheriff Forbes dead in the eye right after he's finished doing wicked things to and with her daughter.

Not that he wanted Caroline simply for her body and the sexual pleasure it brought him, as gorgeous and wonderful as it was, he could have abstained and courted her properly for months if need be.

But when two people lusted after one another in equal measure and kept being denied by fate…

He would hunt down whoever was committing or responsible for these inconvenient murders and deaths and eat them.

 _Slowly_.

And then maybe steal their credit cards and use their money to pay off the cobbler bills he's racked up having his shoes seen to.

How in God's name was the ground this wet this far into summer?

The earth crumbles under his shoes and he follows the scent of the clean humans and the plastic and metal they carry with them rather than the co-ordinates the sheriff had sent him.

The land that far into the forest hadn't changed so greatly in the last nine hundred years that he couldn't figure out their location with only the slightest difficulty.

He finds them at the edge of a ravine, Sheriff Forbes and Damon Salvatore standing in the eye of the storm, their heads bent together chatting as the bustle of police officers and medical examiners worked on the crime scene.

"Good morning" he calls politely once he is within human earshot, hands clasped behind his back as he approaches, doing his best to look as gentlemanly as possible,

"Lovely day"

Sheriff Forbes gives him a look that lets him know immediately how done she is with these murders. There are lines around her eyes and mouth that he'd wager hadn't been there before the arrival of vampires to the town she'd sworn to protect. She smells strongly of coffee and perhaps even cigarette smoke.

Hmmm, would he have to tell Caroline that? Was that something one told the person they had an ongoing sexual relationship with?

"Did you do this one?" she demands, gesturing down to where three…well…what had been three bodies were being slid into body bags, there seemed to be a lot of splattering and spillage of bodily fluids.

"Afraid not" he tells her politely, "Although whomever did…"

"You can leave now" she dismisses him before he can even finish his sentence and he's surprised by the lack of manners, people rarely interrupted him.

He quirks an eyebrow and turns to Damon, "Any chance this _was_ a vampire attack?"

Damon hisses and glances around at the dozen or so humans in their immediate vicinity and Klaus is surprised for the second time in as many minutes.

Surely the citizens dealing with these butchered bodies were aware of the existence of the supernatural?

Surely they had guessed?

If not then they were all so utterly daft that he doubted whether they should even be handling human remains.

Or whether they'd mistake the intestinal tract for sausages and dig in.

Sheriff Forbes glares at him, obviously annoyed by his continued presence,

"The bodies were completely torn to shreds" she informs him with a glare that he feels is slightly unwarranted.

He was usually quite a neat eater after all.

Ask anyone.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd rather Caroline's mother did _not_ develop an in-depth knowledge of his hunting habits, after all, he would have to make a good impression on the woman if his affair with her daughter was somehow discovered.

It never occurred to Niklaus that Elizabeth Forbes already loathed him for his killing of Jenna Sommers and turning Tyler Lockwood into a hybrid. He barely recalled Elena's aunt, only that she had been collateral damage, he'd needed a vampire sacrifice and she'd been convenient. Of course had he known what Caroline would eventually come to mean to him he would have chosen another vampire to kill but as it was he felt little remorse. He had killed so many people over the centuries that he no longer recalled their faces or suffered guilt over their deaths, he moved on quickly and had honestly forgotten that other people wouldn't do the same.

It wasn't in his nature to look back and rethink his actions, wonder what could have been, the past was the past.

So he scans the crime scene with interest, noting the mess made of the forest floor, the tracks leading away from the corpses and the lack of birds within a three mile radius.

Critters would have scurried for safer ground, away from the humans but no birds was telling.

"They were hunted" he tells her, quietly this time, "Chased bleeding and wounded to this point and then killed. It wasn't a vampire, they wouldn't leave this much of a mess and not even Stefan would rip his victims apart this horrifically"

The sheriff's head snaps up at his mention of Stefan and Damon's subsequent glower has Klaus wondering if anyone ever revealed anything in this town.

"I'd almost say werewolf" he finishes, but furrows his brow, "Except that any wolf venturing this close to town would either be mad or suicidal"

"Why?" Sheriff Forbes asks, her tone lacking curiosity, just the professionalism needed to find the culprit or prevent further attacks,

"Werewolves at the heart of it are just bipedal canines" he jokes with a charming grin, "We each have our packs and our territory, granted we don't mark every tree but they'd know the moment they reached the town's by-lines that I lived here, and I'm not really someone you want to take on in a fair fight…isn't that right mate?"

He directs that question at Damon who makes a face at him but doesn't disagree with anything he's saying and the sheriff processes this information before setting her hands on her hips with a determined air that Caroline must have learnt from her,

"So, how do we find a stray werewolf? Can we throw Wolfsbane in the water supply?"

He grimaces, "I'd much rather you didn't" he shrugs, "I should be able to track their scent, find them and run them off"

The Sheriff still clearly doesn't trust him but she sighs, "Alright, I'll tell Meredith to list this as a wild animal attack, Klaus…let me know if you catch the guy I suppose…come on Damon"

Not even a thank-you?

He was hardly expecting an invitation to dinner but some gratitude might be nice.

So little courtesy these days.

Still, he offered his service and she accepted, besides it suited him as well to discover this trespasser, because unbeknownst to Sheriff Forbes or the Mystic Falls police department, these last three deaths, spread out over weeks and months now had been committed by the same perpetrator.

And all had been hunted and killed within the borders of the land that had once belonged to Ansel.

Of course, three killings did not a pattern make but the beginnings of one was certainly there.

The only question was why?

If someone was trying to send him a message than this was far too subtle by half. It would have been far more beneficial to drop the bodies on his doormat, furthermore, they should be aiming their murderous tendencies towards people he actually knew the names of and cared for as opposed to whichever random Mystic Falls resident happened to be crushed by the wheel of fate this week.

This incident was strange and more annoyingly it was time-consuming.

Time spent traipsing out to the middle of bloody nowhere when he could instead be spending the time convincing Caroline to drop her pretty little knickers and let him do rather devious things to her gorgeous body.

He clears his throat and looks back over his shoulder, Caroline's mother and Stefan's brother are half a mile away now, headed to their cars and thus would not have been within telepathic range to pick up his rather debauched fantasies.

Not that either of them had telepathic abilities- to his knowledge- and certainly none capable of penetrating his mind but still…

Never hurt to be too careful.

* * *

Caroline barely made it to AP French and took half the lesson to catch her breath, it was rather hard to concentrate on writing in future tense when she had to try and figure out what evil was currently threatening her immediate future.

Her brain was a mess of dead bodies, French conjugation and sexual frustration.

Yeah she'd come this morning but she'd really had enough of foreplay and then untimely interruptions right before the…well…the final act.

Oh screw it, she was in her own head, no-one could hear her, what she wanted was for Klaus to stop being a considerate guy and just stick his cock right in her…

" _Caroline!_ "

She shrieked and spun around, her arm coming up defensively and only a last second block stopped her from taking Tyler's head clean off.

"Oh my God!" she gasped, "You scared the hell out of me!"

Tyler frowns, "I called you three times but you didn't hear me"

She blushed, there was a very good reason she hadn't been concentrating she looks around now and notes that at least she'd made it to her locker when she could have accidentally walked out into traffic.

"Right" she gives herself a little shake down, her ponytail ticking the back of her shoulders, "Um…what did you want to talk about?"

Almost as soon as she asks that question she has a moment of anxiety.

Caroline had bitten the bullet and broken up with Tyler after she'd spent an afternoon with Klaus- fully clothed- but talking and acting out exactly what they would do to each other during their first sexual encounter.

If she was going to be an absolute bitch she could argue that at most she'd only cheated on Tyler by kissing Klaus once, but she wasn't an idiot and knew emotional cheating was definitely a thing.

So she had gone around to Tyler's house, asked Hayley to take a hike- which for a girl who didn't do teenage drama, she'd picked up on that social cue pretty quickly and practically left dust in her wake- sat him down on the couch and gently explained that she didn't want to be with him anymore.

He hadn't taken it well. A couple of crystal tumblers had met the wall behind her and she'd been kicked out while he was still angry.

After that she'd blocked him on her cell phone and then…in a move which she wasn't _entirely_ proud of…she had gone to Klaus' bed, stripped naked and summoned him for a round of…basically a continuation of what they'd done the previous afternoon, only without any clothes.

Not that she was ashamed of having got naked and using Klaus' body in a way which was entirely consensual but still slightly cruel because she'd got him worked up and then left him hanging. She just wished that there had been enough blood left in her brain at that point to have maybe kept her libido in check until at least a full day after she'd become single again.

Tyler would be devastated if he found out and she'd be sick with guilt over causing him so much pain.

Fortunately she and Klaus had a spoken- well…she'd done the speaking, Klaus had just tried to take in her three hundred words a minute rant and nodded at the end- agreement to keep their…whatever on the down low for the moment.

But looking at Tyler now, he looks exhausted and hung-over, he's not giving off any signals that he's about to talk about their break-up or start crying.

Except he's looking over his shoulder and suddenly takes her hand, "Come on"

Caroline wants to dig her heels into the linoleum so that Tyler would literally have to drag her down the corridor, leaving spools of the icky blue coloured floor in their wake but he's got her halfway to Alaric's classroom before she can even think to protest.

She almost sighs in relief when they enter the room and she sees the rest of their friends and Alaric there.

Wait? Why is everyone there?

Oh crap.

What if they knew about her and Klaus after all?

What if someone had seen her phone, or his phone?

Wait…no she's had him delete those photos and that video…but what if someone had seen or heard them?

"Hey!" she greets everyone with false cheeriness, "What's up?"

Damon, as usual, gives her his standard fed-up, too good for all of you expression,

"Um…maybe three dead bodies in the forest blondie? Frat boys? Probably the would-have-been future husbands of your cheerleaders"

She blushes and resists the urge to roll her eyes at his snark, if Elena was still a cheerleader he'd be turning up to games in the team colours,

"Right…sorry, so what do we know?"

Alaric is sitting at his desk marking papers and doesn't even look up from the essay as he speaks,

"Three college students home for the weekend, found this morning by a hiker and it's going to be labelled as another animal attack"

Matt snorts and crosses his arms, "Do we know what _actually_ killed them?"

"I think it was Klaus" Tyler speaks up before anyone else has the chance and Caroline turns her face towards him so quickly she cricks her neck,

"What?!" she asks, " _Why?!_ "

He shrugs peevishly, "Who else could it be?"

Caroline shifted her weight and held her books tighter to her chest,

"That killed three guys in the middle of nowhere? What did he say when you spoke to him?"

She directs that question to Damon and almost immediately realises her mistake. He narrows his eyes and glares at her thoughtfully,

"How'd you know I spoke to him?"

Because Damon had been the one to call Klaus to the crime scene.

"Well…" she drawls, her brain running a million miles an hour trying to come up with a plausible lie,

"The murders were in Mystic Falls jurisdiction so my mom would be have been there and I'm guessing- like Tyler- you made Klaus the primary suspect?"

"He says he didn't do it" Elena answers and Caroline takes a second to make sure her heart is still beating. "He claims that it was probably a werewolf"

"Which Klaus is" Jeremy points out but Stefan shakes his head,

"Klaus rarely denies his kills and if he had killed them he wouldn't have gone out to the crime scene"

"Killers return to the scene of the crime" Tyler argues but Caroline shakes her head,

"That's a myth, disorganised murderers might return to the scene out of fear of being discovered but Klaus wouldn't have that fear"

Tyler frowns at her and she wonders if she's being too defensive of Klaus but she glances to Stefan to see that he looks as doubtful of Klaus culpability as she is.

"We should check when the time of death is and then see if Klaus has an alibi for that time" Alaric suggests, drawing a big A in the corner of one student's paper before checking his watch,

"And class is in five minutes so I'd suggest you guys get ready"

Damon stays behind to talk to him while the rest of them file out and head for their lockers, Elena ambles after Caroline, in no hurry as she had a free period next,

"Wanna get a coffee after school?" she suggests as Caroline checks the schedule she has printed up on the inside of her locker,

"Um…I have cheerleading til four-thirty but meet you at the Grill?"

She swaps over her books and makes a show of heading to class, checking that she's out of sight before ducking into the bathrooms and taking her phone out of her pocket,

 _To: Klaus  
'Someone's going to question where you were Fri/Sat/Sun' _

She exhales and tries to keep still even though her entire body is quivering with nervous tension, he responds a full two minutes later, after the bell had already rung,

 _From: Klaus  
'Fri- At home, working on an oil painting, canvas still wet, Sat- at afternoon garden party, evening- purchased some art online, will probably arrive with a receipt sometime next week, Sun- morning, got coffee at Grill otherwise no alibi for the day but the boys were already dead by then' _

She reads this so quickly the script blurs on the phone and she has to blink to adjust her eyesight.

Technically Klaus did have an alibi for Sunday, well for most of the morning anyway, he'd been in bed with her, and Saturday afternoon they'd both disappeared from the garden party and Saturday evening…wait?

 _To: Klaus  
You purchased art Sat night? When?_

Before or after they'd started sexting?

 _From: Klaus  
I was bidding on them all day sweetheart, Sotheby's had some great items and Elijah's birthday is coming up _

She chuckles and rolls her eyes, hearing the second bell which lets her know that she is now officially late for class but she can't pull herself away from the conversation. She leans against the bathroom wall, glad that nobodies around to see her smiling like an idiot.

 _To: Klaus  
That alibi is so you _

His reply is comes through almost as soon as the message had been declared sent.

 _From: Klaus  
They also have a magnificent jewellery collection coming up…_

She laughs.

 _To Klaus:_

 _Don't even think about it!_

She's about five minutes late to Calculus but thankfully, Ms Porter settles for demanding to see her after class and she compels her to forget with very little guilt.

After all, if she gets a write-up for being late Alaric might see and there'd be uncomfortable questions about what she'd been doing during that time gap. _  
_

* * *

A/N- This takes place before Carol's murder and there's no Silas or cure debacle.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- This might be a slow-moving story, I'm not entirely sure yet. For faster moving story, head on over to my other fic Alpha Female.  
Also check out my blog on tumblr, .com

* * *

Sometimes being a vampire was relatively easy.

Hell, it was even easy to _forget_ she was a vampire, with the daylight ring having been on her finger so long that she barely even noticed it anymore and really she could go a day without drinking blood she could pretend she was still human.

Other times…she had to resist the predator within her roaring and demanding blood to appease its anger.

This was usually caused by her negative emotions- anger, frustration and impatience.

All three she was experiencing violently as certain people on the team absolutely refused to do as they were told.

"Amber!" she called over the music as she saw the girl turning away to check her phone,

"We only have ten minutes left, concentrate!"

The girl huffed and jutted out her hip, pouting and Caroline resisted the urge to point out that the football team wasn't there to watch them,

"But…like…it's an _emergency_ "

Caroline opens her mouth to reel her out before remembering that three boys had been murdered and hadn't been identified yet, the only thing that had really survived the massacre had been the fraternity ball caps. Amber might know one of those boys and be wondering where he was right now, if he was okay.

So she sighs and walks around the girls performing the dance routine, making sure her tone is gentle when she asks,

"What's wrong?"

Amber's eyes are full of worry, "I was going to go with Sophie to Whitmore's game this Friday but now she's saying she has a date!"

Oh to be able to snap necks without feeling any remorse.

When Caroline snarls at her to get back to the damn routine she's not entirely sure that her eyes are free of blood and that her veins aren't protruding across her cheeks.

And her bad mood isn't helped when she's packing up after sending the girls to the shower and hears Amber complaining about what an uptight bitch she is.

'God…like…how does Tyler even _stand_ her?'

Before she can lose herself to a murderous rage she hears April Young, recruited to the team after winning Miss Mystic Falls, speak up in her defence,

"Isn't Caroline the reason this team went from nothing to regional champions? And she's running like all the proms and dances, so I'd be uptight too with that much responsibility"

Okay, so her defence was a little murky but hey, her intentions were good.

Caroline throws everything into the sports room and then heads straight for her car, unable to bother showering and changing from her uniform. She checks her phone as she buckles her seatbelt and sees one text from Elena letting her know that she's headed to the Grill, one from Matt asking about their English homework and…none from Klaus.

He's probably gone dark since becoming suspect number one in the murder case.

She wonders if her mom's checked out his alibis yet and was thankful that nobody thought to question her whereabouts or whether she had potentially murdered those three guys.

Not that she had but still, it was nice to know they didn't even think her capable of that.

* * *

The Grill was still busy when she strode through the doors. People grabbing drinks after getting off work, some families grabbing an early dinner, students chatting with friends and playing pool.

Elena had grabbed a centre table and was already halfway through a chocolate milkshake when Caroline joined her.

"Hey!" she fixed a smile on her face as she sat down, "How's it going? Did Stefan check to see if Klaus had an alibi?"

Elena looks bewildered and momentarily lost before responding, "What…oh, um I'm not actually sure, Stefan and I kind of aren't speaking at the moment"

 _Oh_.

So Elena hadn't asked her here for some sort of interrogation, she'd asked her for some good old fashioned girl talk.

Caroline could do girl talk easily.

"What happened?"

Elena dives in with a story about Damon having been over at her house for a movie night and Stefan arriving unexpectedly and getting jealous because his brother was next to her on the couch but Jeremy and Alaric were there so they totally weren't doing anything wrong at all and…

As of two days ago Caroline lost the ability to condemn anyone for emotional cheating but when your boyfriend's brother- a guy who's admitted to being in love with you and whom you kissed when your boyfriend was MIA- was at your house watching a movie with your family that said boyfriend hadn't been invited to…

She definitely understood where Stefan was coming from.

Trying to make Elena see things from his point of view however, not so easy, especially when she was firmly sticking to her 'Nothing is going on between me and Damon' story.

So she was trying to figure out the kindest way to make her friend understand why her boyfriend was upset when Elena glanced over her shoulder and looked surprised. She twisted in her chair to see what had captured her interest.

Klaus walked through the doors, black Henley, leather jacket, annoyed expression on his face and behind him, tall guy in a suit worth more than the building he was striding through.

Elijah.

Klaus is making straight for the bar with his older brother in tow except Elijah detours so smoothly heading in the direction of their table that Klaus pivots around in obvious confusion trying to find where he's gone.

Caroline grips the back of her chair, enjoying the moment when she can watch him unobserved, when he looks so human, but stilling when his eyes meet hers and fighting the smile trying to creep up onto her face.

He matches it with a smirk, his eyes playful before he blinks and his expression changes into something…false.

She recognises the air of flirtatiousness mixed with the hint of danger and nods in understanding, pursing her lips in annoyance and concern as Elijah stops at their table and Elena beams,

"Hi Elijah"

"Elena" he murmurs her name, "How are you? How is your brother?"

"Good" she laughs happily, "Playing video games and eating pizza but he's good"

She frowns then, obviously thinking, before gesturing to her, "Have you met my friend Caroline?"

"No," Elijah draws out the word, "I don't believe I've had the pleasure"

Knowing her manners, Caroline stands automatically and offers him her hand, he takes it limply and his eyes flicker over her with the uninterested expression she's seen many a time.

The 'Not Elena Gilbert but Elena's friend so I have to be nice' expression.

He wouldn't remember her name.

" _Love_ the uniform sweetheart"

Klaus has finally reached the table and his eyes are roaming over her body. And for a second she's worried she'll react, that her heart will race or a blush will stain her cheeks but not when they're performing this charade.

Maybe later when they're done acting.

"Love what you did in the forest" she snipes back, "Did you at least have a reason to kill those guys or did you just get bored?"

"Caroline!" Elena gasps, suddenly not okay with accusing Klaus of murder.

Probably because they're in a public place.

"What is this?" Elijah demands in a curt voice, "What murders?"

Klaus ignores his brother and turns to her feigning hurt,

"Now love, as I told your mother this afternoon, I have proof that I was at home when those poor lads were being brutally slaughtered"

He grins cheekily and she rolls her eyes, "Whatever"

She makes a show of checking her phone, "I have to head home" she tells Elena, "I'm cooking dinner tonight"

"But you just got here" Elena's eyes darted around confused,

"Almost an hour ago" she points out in a caring tone, "But I'll see you tomorrow"

* * *

A blur of wind, hardness on her waist and suddenly she goes from the street to the alley between the jewellery store and the butcher, she smiles even as Klaus' lips descend upon her own kissing her madly,

"That uniform" he growls in her ear, "Is it supposed to be so tiny?"

"Like it?" she teases, "Maybe I'll wear it for you onetime"

He chuckles and his breath is warm against her hair, tickling her scalp,

"Don't take this the wrong way sweetheart but I'd _much_ rather you not wear anything for me"

She groans and arches her back, pressing her body against his as they try to close any possible space between them, "Me too"

His hand runs up her inner thigh and a finger tries to slip under the uniform briefs and she chokes on her laughter,

"Hybrid strength isn't getting past those" she tells him regretfully, kissing his neck as he growls in frustration,

"I ordered these custom made, when we aren't competing they're essentially chastity belts"

He settles his hands on her hips and draws her tighter against him for another kiss, their tongues rubbing against each other while her fingers clutch his hair and she resists the urge to strip and have sex in the dirty alleyway.

"I have to go" she whimpers as he presses kisses along her jawline, "I have to make dinner"

For a moment she thinks he's going to argue, beg her to stay and whine in the way that her ex-boyfriends used to but he releases her- obviously reluctantly- but he lets her go and stands back.

His eyes are dark and she's messed up his hair, she reaches up to try and sort it out and he bends his head patiently while she does.

"Why is Elijah here?" she asks curiously and he shrugs,

"God knows, probably on another redemption binge"

She frowns and thinks over her next sentence before speaking,

"Okay, is there any chance that he killed those guys?"

She's worried that Klaus will take offense, get angry and lash out at her but he only chuckles and shakes his head,

"Unlikely sweetheart, Elijah the neatest eater I've ever seen, carries around a handkerchief just to keep his hands clean"

She tries not to show how relieved she is that he took the suggestion in good humour, "Well, somebody killed them"

He shrugs, "We'll figure out who soon enough," he looks down the street,

"Are you alright to get to your car?"

She laughs, "Trust me, you're the most dangerous thing out here"

"Right after that skirt of yours" he quips as she walks away from him, admittedly swaying her hips a bit more than necessary.

Who'd have thought sexual frustration could be fun?

* * *

Caroline was just putting the finishing touches on the Chicken Fricassee when her phone rang.

Assuming it was her mom, she picked it up without even checking the screen, "Hello?"

"Hey Care" Bonnie's voice filtered through the speaker, "How are you?"

Caroline frowns even as she holds her shoulder up to keep the phone in place so she'll have both hands free for the dish,

"Um…fine but we saw each other barely five hours ago, unless…" she gasps theatrically,

"Bonnie Bennett, do you have a doppelganger?"

"Don't even joke about that!" her friend laughs, "God, could you imagine? With our luck she'd be worse than Katherine"

Caroline remembers all the times she'd wished for a clone as a child so she could fit in all her extra-curricular activities, social life and school work. Of course, that was before Katherine Pierce.

Now, she was quite content being the only one out there with her face.

And her attraction for Klaus.

"So what's up?" she asks as she checks the clock on the wall, her mom was running late again.

"Okay" Bonnie breathed, "Just…don't shoot the messenger okay?"

Oh _Crap_.

What was it? Had Elena figured something out and Bonnie had rung to warn her that their best friend was storming over there with the Salvatore brothers in tow for the most epic slut-shaming?

Crap.

What if they'd gone to her mom first, was that why she was running late? Was she so disgusted that she couldn't even come home to look her daughter in the eye?

Breathe, Caroline.

She inhaled and exhaled, "What's wrong?"

Please, please, please let it be another dead body in the woods.

Anything but her secret having got out.

"So..." Bonnie drawled and Caroline used her vampire hearing and analysed every aspect of her tone in those few seconds.

Reluctance, curiosity, faintest hint of embarrassment.

"Uh…you know Adam Houghton right? I think he plays running back-er?"

Safe in the knowledge that Bonnie can't see into her dining room, Caroline rolls her eyes, her best friend's knowledge of football was limited to being able to identify the school team by their colours and finding Matt and Tyler on the field.

She had little interests in sports.

Caroline meanwhile had picked it up through endless hours spent cheerleading on the field and watching the games with her Dad and Steven.

"Running back" she corrects, "Uh yeah, tall-ish, has that tribal tattoo on his arm even though he doesn't belong to any tribe"

Except the tribe of white guys appropriating other cultures.

"Apparently it means Serenity and Self-knowledge" Bonnie offers as explanation and Caroline smirks,

"Of course it does"

Because Grams had been known as a new-age hippy sort and because Bonnie kind of rocked that chic in her clothes and jewellery, she was usually on the front line when anyone at Mystic Falls high decided they wanted to try an alternative lifestyle. People who she barely knew would come up to her locker and ask her for advice on buying organic in their tiny one supermarket town, or how best to recycle/compost and then there was always the idiot or two who came up while Caroline- the _Sheriff's_ _daughter_ \- was standing right there to ask about how best to go about buying/growing/selling weed.

"I have chemistry with him" she offered as further explanation and Caroline laughed as she began setting the table, checking the clock once again.

"Do you now?" she teased, "Well…they do say that love is blind"

"Ha, ha" Bonnie replied, her voice thick with sarcasm,

"No I mean he was my chem partner and rang me just now to ask for your number"

" _Oh_ " Caroline stopped in her tracks and looked down at the serving fork in her hand.

"Which I found interesting because I figured he'd know that the Head Cheerleader was dating a team mate until he told me that he'd heard that you and Tyler had broken up over the weekend"

Crap.

She knew she'd forgotten something.

When one broke up with their boyfriend of one year the first thing they were meant to do was tell their best friends so they could console/congratulate her.

Not go and get naked, sit on another guy's bed and send him a naked photo.

"Um…" Caroline stalled as she tried to think of something to say, "I…"

"Pretended everything was okay because you didn't want us to be distracted from the whole 'dead bodies in the woods' thing" Bonnie interjected,

"You still could have told us Care, what happened?"

She'd gotten hot and heavy with Klaus Mikaelson- the Original Hybrid, the evil villain _that_ Klaus Mikaelson- she'd listened as he'd told her in explicit detail everything he would do to her when they had sex for the first time.

Then a few hours later she's sent him a photo of her in lingerie quickly followed by a video of her touching herself while saying his name.

 _That_ is what happened.

That is _not_ what she's telling her best friend.

"Tyler and I…" she struggled to put it into words.

Despite her guilt, Klaus wasn't the only reason she'd broken up with her boyfriend.

"We fell out of sync" she says almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth,

"We used to just…it was so easy, we were on the same page and understood each other and then…and I get he's had a rough time" she sighs,

"We all have but…all he seems to care about these days is trying to take out Klaus and I get that he hates him and everything but…Klaus hasn't done anything for ages now. I'm not saying he's redeemed himself or is a good guy now or anything but…"

"Why cause trouble with him if we don't have to?" Bonnie finished helpfully and Caroline jumped on that,

"Exactly, even Damon has backed off saying that there's no point until he, and I quote, 'decides to kill us all'"

She then realises that it sounds exactly like Klaus is the reason she and Tyler broke up and leans her hip against the chair, looking up at the clock again and wondering if her mom was even coming home tonight.

She knew her shift ended at eight but sometimes her mom liked to say she was 'working late' when actually she was with Mr Lalonde, the cameraman for the local news station.

She seemed to think Caroline didn't know. As if nobody had seen her mom's squad car parked outside his house.

As if Caroline didn't hear every rumour that went through Mystic Falls.

"But it wasn't just that" she continued, "I…he didn't seem…" she growls in frustration, hating how weak and Pre-Vampire Caroline she's about to sound but has to give up and accept that until she figures out how to properly express herself,

"He never included me in his plans" she "And I know I make good Klaus bait because I can distract him and talk him down but…I'm one of the smartest people in our group"

Actually, if they were measuring IQ from an academic standpoint, she _was_ the smartest person in their group.

"And I know I don't have a lot of experience strategizing but I don't want the first time I'm hearing about my boyfriend's plan to be when everything's gone screwy and I'm suddenly required to slip on a short skirt and sweet-talk Klaus into not killing everyone in sight. I can't just be a pretty face Bonnie and I can't be with someone who thinks that I am"

She's talked herself out of breath and inhales, "So…that's why I broke up with Tyler"

Bonnie has been making sympathetic noises throughout her rant and she can practically see her best friend nodding on the other end of the phone,

"So…not to make a bad situation worse, but I did give Adam your number"

Both girls laugh and Caroline looks up as she hears the front door slamming shut and her mom's heavy steps in the hallway, she waits for the familiar rattle of the drawer in the side table and the clunk of the gun and badge against the wood and frowns when she doesn't pick the sounds up,

"Gotta go" she hangs up and sticks her head around the corner, nearly colliding with her mom.

"Hey…I was wondering where you were" she smiles, "Dinner's ready but I'll have to heat it up"

Liz gives her a strange, weak smile, "Thank-you sweetie"

* * *

When they sit down with their now-microwaved dinner Caroline notices her mom keeps throwing her weird looks and her anxiety triggers her paranoia.

Did Klaus say something when he saw her mom today? He didn't mention her as an alibi did he? Surely he would have told her? She'd seen him just a little while ago. Unless he'd seen her mother since then?

"So…" she cleared her throat, "Have you got any leads on the 'wild animal attack'" she makes air-quotes with her fingers and Liz shakes her head,

"Nothing yet, Damon's keeping an eye out for any new vampires in town and apparently…Klaus thinks it was a werewolf attack and is going to see if he can track them down"

Caroline nods, showing that she's listening while wondering if her mom had paused for a second before saying Klaus' name.

But why would she do that?

Her mom is so tired that she doesn't even have a glass of wine after dinner, just yawning and going straight to bed while Caroline sits on the couch and tries to contemplate the schedule for the Beautification Committee and any potential clashes between that and the Annual Policeman's Fundraiser for Widows and Children.

She glances at them at least. In small breaks between her frequent checking of her phone. When the damn thing finally vibrates she nearly jumps on it and presses the screen hard enough to risk cracking it.

 _From: Unknown Number_

 _hi caroline its Adam i heard u & Lockwood broke up and wanted 2 no if ur free this Thursday after practize?_

Seriously?!

How many spelling mistakes can go into one text? Did he think she didn't have standards? Didn't all smart phones have predictive text, how could he even send a message like that unless he was hitting the screen with his forehead?

Besides, she and Tyler had only broken up Sunday morning, wasn't there some kind of Bro Code that said his team members couldn't ask her out right away?

If a girl on the squad asked out the ex of another team member barely twenty-four hours after the break up her eyes would be clawed straight out of her head.

She chews her lip and frowns at the screen. How could she turn Adam down gently? As someone who'd been rejected multiple times- sometimes even by the same guy- she didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she also didn't want to give him hope where there wasn't any.

 _To: Unknown number_

 _Hi Adam, thanks for asking but I'm just taking some time to focus on me right now. See you at practise!_ _J_

Perfect.

Sweet with a hint of sadness so he'd figure she'd need time to get over the breakup.

After all, she couldn't exactly tell him the truth.

She imagined that text.

 _To: Unknown number_

 _Hi Adam, thanks for asking but I starting seeing another guy about twenty minutes after ending things with Tyler. In fact I got naked with this guy, tied him to a bed and slapped him and we aren't technically a couple but he's a really good kisser and I kind of want see where this goes but please don't tell anyone because we aren't meant to be seeing each other and Tyler hates this guy beyond belief._

 _See you at practise!_ _J_

She snorts at the idea of Adam getting that message and with a smile, finds herself relaxing and able to think over the situation without too much anxiety or paranoia.

She and Klaus were secretly together. Not dating per se, but getting naked frequently, touching each other and sex was definitely part of the plan.

The dead bodies that kept turning up was not part of the plan, they suggested there was someone and something new to town that would have to be investigated.

An investigation that would have to eliminate Klaus as a suspect quickly because if the police or anyone for that matter started poking their nose into his business not only would he get short tempered but they might discover that the two of them kept disappearing at the same times.

From there it'd be pretty easy to figure out they were shirtless hugging and if someone came up with proof well…

Tyler would lose his mind. There'd be shouting, screaming, objects flying, possible biting which would end with her needing Klaus' blood and if he found out that Tyler had bitten her- now that he knew/cared what happened to her- he'd likely have a tantrum of his own.

Meanwhile, she'd be left dealing with the fallout of Elena, Bonnie and her mom finding out that she was with the Original Evil Hybrid.

It didn't matter that Klaus hadn't done anything remotely evil in months, that he'd settled into what Caroline had to assume was the male vampire lifestyle because it almost exactly mirrored Damon's. Wander around town, make snarky comments and turn up whenever something supernatural goes down but otherwise have no clear form of employment.

Although at least Klaus had hobbies, all Damon seemed to do was raise the profit margin of the Mystic Grill through day-drinking and follow Elena around like a lost puppy, ruining her relationship with Stefan.

Still, her friends and those who knew about the supernatural considered Klaus the evil villain because of his past actions.

And maybe she should too.

In fact she totally would except that she had she'd got a glimpse into his mind set the night of the ball. When she'd been talking with him outside and the realisation had hit her.

Klaus had never had to make amends with anyone outside his family before or make any effort to understand or connect with people so when he decided to start behaving himself it didn't even occur to him that everyone else would still hold his past deeds against him.

Caroline wasn't blind, she hadn't forgotten what he'd done, she was just able to step back and consider all the points of view.

It was kind of hard to see Klaus as the Big Bad Villain in town when she'd spent the last months of her human life being victimised by Damon Salvatore. Especially when Stefan and Elena needed her to let go of her issues and work with him because he'd turned over a new leaf.

And yes he'd killed people, but so had she.

If he hadn't killed Aunt Jenna and threatened Elena would they have even cared about his past deeds?

 _No_ , she's not going to answer _that_ because that actually says more about her and her friends than it does about Klaus.

Klaus Mikaelson.

The guy she had made out with this morning, the guys she wanted to have sex with.

Preferably multiple times.

It wasn't that she was selfish- although maybe she was- and it wasn't that she was an airhead- although Damon did call her Vampire Barbie- it was just that she hadn't been able to deny the attraction between them any longer.

The sexual tension between them. His gorgeous body and the accent that lured you in, the entire range of his smiles, including but not limited to flirtatious, faux innocent and amused, her particular favourites. The way his eyes had always flickered to her lips before he licked his own.

The way the air between them was always electric, no matter where they were and how everything suddenly became more vibrant and alive when they were together. Her senses tingling as he made her feel that anything was possible.

She'd held out for as long as possible and if she hadn't seen him that afternoon being propositioned by Sophie…but she had and the thought of him rolling around in bed with that skank, actually, the thought of him in bed with _anyone_ who wasn't her had sent her chasing after him like a jealous girlfriend.

So now, here she was, giving into her feelings for him in secret.

Craving his kiss and touch but at the same time hoping no one found out.

She sighed and kicked her shoes off, curling up on the couch and feeling a stab of irritation when her phone buzzes again.

But a moment later, it turns into a warm, gooey feeling and a sappy smile.

 _From: Klaus_

 _Goodnight sweetheart, have pleasant dreams of me._

 _To: Klaus_

 _Sex dreams you mean?_

 _From: Klaus_

 _Your words, not mine_

She's giggling as she gets ready for bed and biting her lip cheekily, she sends him a topless photo,

 _To: Klaus_

 _Here's some inspiration for your own dreams. ;)_

She falls asleep with a smile on her face and his last message still running across her mind's eye

 _From: Klaus_

 _And there goes any hope I had of sleep._

* * *

A/N- See, slow burn.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- Good news everyone, the issue I had last month with my Kalijah story has been sorted out. If anyone would like to make me a cover for this story PM me or head over to my tumblr pages which can be found on my profile.

* * *

 _She's just walked into the kitchen when he grabs her._

 _One moment she's headed to the fridge, the next- her face is pressed against the wall and a rough body is rubbing hard against hers._

 _A fierce kiss is placed to the back of her neck and she hums with delight as agile hands get to work lifting up her dress and pushing her panties aside._

" _Klaus" she moans as two fingers thrust into her vagina and plunder her, "Oh God…yes"_

" _Caroline" he groans, biting the shell of her ear, his chest hard against her back, "Fuck love, I need you now"_

" _Take me…oh God…take me"_

 _He pulls back, his fingers leaving her and she whacks her hand against the wall in frustration before she hears the beautiful sound of a zipper lowering and..._

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"What?!"

Caroline's eyes opened as the exclamation shot out of her mouth.

What the…

Oh no…no, no, no.

It had been a dream.

 _Dammit_.

She whimpers in disappointment and closes her eyes, bringing a hand to her forehead as she inhales and rubs her thighs together.

Her wet, sticky thighs because what's the point of a sex dream if you don't wake up frustrated on all fronts?

Damn brain.

It wasn't like it wasn't telling her something she didn't already know.

She wanted Klaus, she wanted his naked body inside hers and at this point she wasn't really picky about the when and where.

Sure she still had lingering fantasies about hotel rooms, moonlit sheets, romantic music and rose petals like every teenage girl but she'd be just as cool with the back of a car.

Of course she'd never had sex in the back of a car before because that was slutty but if she and Klaus could only manage the back of a car, well…

One time wouldn't kill her.

Sexual frustration on the other hand, potentially deadly.

Beep. Beep. Bee- _Smash_.

Dammit.

Oh well. Alarm clocks were old-fashioned anyway. Everything was available on her i-phone.

Speaking of which.

She switches on her wi-fi and waits the obligatory ten seconds before it begins buzzing.

Ten emails, three messages. Two from Bonnie and one from Elena.

Bonnie had just texted to check if she was okay after dealing with Adam and then again to meet up before school which meant that Caroline would have to be there in…okay she had maybe half an hour to get ready and out the door.

One from Elena which was more an essay than a text. Saying she'd heard about the breakup and was so sorry and why hadn't Caroline told her _and_ from there it spiralled into a guilt trip where Elena focused inwards, questioning their friendship if her best friend hadn't told her about ending her relationship.

So today's to-do list so far comprised of checking in on Bonnie and reassuring Elena that she was the best of friends, the most perfect person that ever…

Did she really need to attend school today? Could she maybe just fake a sickie and then skip on over to Klaus' place?

Wait…no, Klaus' older brother was in town and considering the guy was friendly with Elena, that meant that if he saw her hanging with his brother he might mention something and then questions would be asked.

No good. Very bad questions.

Besides, she had to organise the upcoming dance, especially now that Rebekah had dropped off the face of the earth.

Not even daggered, she'd apparently just got bored and told Klaus that she was headed off to Europe. Didn't mention where because he 'didn't deserve to know' but considering that Fashion Week was coming up in Paris, Caroline had a feeling she was somewhere in France.

She must have decided that high school wasn't a necessary experience after all.

For the rest of the student body hoping to graduate this year however…

Caroline rolled out of bed and cursed all the things she had to do today.

All the obligations and requirements that kept her from spending a sunny day in a beautiful park in Richmond, or maybe a nice restaurant or Klaus' swimming pool.

Seriously, sometimes achieving life goals sucked.

* * *

Bonnie's nabbed one of the outside tables by the time Caroline manages to pull into the high school parking lot, she checks her appearance in the rear view mirror one last time before climbing out and walking over to her.

She hasn't even taken three steps when she realises that everyone in the immediate area is watching her.

And talking about her.

"Really?! Tyler broke up with that ass?"

"Yeah but have you heard her boss everyone about? He probably got sick of dealing with it"

"If Tyler Lockwood found someone willing to put up with him…she totally dumped him"

"So she's like single now right? Think she'll be up for rebound sex?"

"Yeah" Bonnie nodded as Caroline approached with a stunned look and a blush creeping up her cheeks,

"I've had half the cheer team come up this morning asking if it was true and two more guys wanting to know if you're taking numbers"

"Seriously?!" Caroline groaned as she sank down onto the wooden bench, "We haven't even been broken up a week, can't they wait?"

"This is for you" Bonnie pushed a paper cup towards her, "Its chamomile, for relaxation and calming of nerves"

Caroline isn't a fan of tea, especially if it isn't peppermint and since the Originals had come to town the tea she usually drank was vervein, which all the half and half in the world couldn't make that herb taste good.

Still, Bonnie had made the effort so Caroline sips on the tea and hums appreciatively, closing her eyes and wondering if chamomile tea could also worked to calm sexual desire.

Probably not when the focus of your desire had a British accent.

"How're you feeling?" her friend prompts and she frowns as she laughs in confusion,

"Bonnie Bennett…did you slip a love potion in here? Because you should know, I won't need magic to get freaky with you"

Bonnie snickers, "Good to know that if Jere and I break-up that I have options but um…are you feeling calm?"

Caroline panics and her first thought is of her mom. Had something happened?

No, if her mom had been injured or killed in the line of duty Bonnie wouldn't be the first one talking to her. Cops looked after their own, one of the deputies would have come for her. She knew every last one of the men and women who worked in the station and all of them considered her family.

So if it wasn't that…

"Has there been another death?" she asks cautiously, figuring that the likelihood of the group having discovered her affair with Klaus since last night highly unlikely.

Unless Klaus had been talking to his brother?

No, Elijah probably didn't even remember her name, he wouldn't know to spill the beans to Elena.

"No" Bonnie glanced down at her beautiful fingers with long, healthy nails even though she always sunk her hands into the earth when gardening.

"Um…not a death-which is a good thing but…uh…Tyler asked Sophie out on a date this Friday"

Caroline blinked, not having expected to hear that news at all, "Sophie?"

She feels bad when she can't immediately figure out who Bonnie's referring to.

Sophie McShera? Sophie Wright? Sophie Cookson?

Bonnie can see that she's struggling to put a name to the face and coughed politely,

"She's on your squad and um…goes on a lot of dates"

Sophie Hudson.

"Her?!" Caroline blurted out, " _Slutty_ Sophie?"

Bonnie will never say a bad thing about anyone human but nods,

"Yeah…I found out this morning, Adam asked if I might know a way to win you over and mentioned that Tyler's already on the rebound so…"

Caroline had rebounded first.

She'd bounded from Klaus bed and then rebounded right back in there.

Not that she was going to point _that_ out.

Instead she closed her eyes, breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth and shrugged sharply before answering,

"Tyler and I are broken up now so he can date whomever he wants"

"And you?" Bonnie asks gently, reaching over and taking her hand as a light, summer breeze has goosebumps running up her arm,

"Anyone out there caught your eye yet?"

Yes.

"No" Caroline shook her head and checked her watch, "Although I'll let you know"

She starts getting to her feet before an idea comes to her and leaves her mouth before she can even think to filter it,

"I suppose Klaus will be knocking on my door soon" she notes casually,

Bonnie reels back, " _What?!_ "

Caroline's blushing again but keeps going, "Yeah…I mean he'll be thrilled that Ty and I are over and just waiting for any sign that I find him cute"

"Maybe one date with the guy won't kill me"

She can tell from Bonnie's horrified expression that she's said the wrong thing and chills run down her spine,

"I don't mean like actual dating him but like a one-time date"

"Caroline" Bonnie drawled her name slowly, "Are you _attracted_ to Klaus?"

 _Yes_.

"No" she shakes her head, "No I just…it was just a thought"

"He's a monster Caroline!" Bonnie argued, "An irredeemable monster who threatened us all, who killed innocent people and terrorized the town"

"I know" she insisted, "It was just a suggestion…I guess Tyler moving on so quickly just hurt me, you know?"

Bonnie's shoulders sag in relief and she stands as the first bell rings,

"Elena and I could come over tonight?" she offers, "Movies, ice-cream and nail polish?"

Caroline smiles enthusiastically before grimacing, "Wait, shoot…Mom and I are having a brainstorming session for the next Police Widows Fundraiser. Sorry Bon, maybe this weekend after the Whitmore game?"

She waves quickly and darts off to her locker, so deep in thought that she doesn't even notice that half the student body is gossiping about her as she goes.

It had been stupid of her to think that she could confess her attraction to Klaus to Bonnie, it had been a momentary glitch where she'd honestly believed that if she could explain herself rationally that she wouldn't have to keep everything secret. The only thing to come out of the discussion was the realization that her relationship with Klaus could cost her friendship with Bonnie.

No chance of confessing to her then.

* * *

"Tell me about these murders that are being lain on your doorstep"

Klaus rolled his eyes and momentarily fantasised about flinging the paintbrush in his hand over his shoulder, across the room and into his brother's larynx.

Yet the last time he'd done that Elijah had stormed off in a huff and kept away for an entire year, contacting him only through angry missives but remaining physically far away and leaving him to his 'debauchery and derelictions'

Why would this be a bad thing again?

"Do not even _think_ about it little brother"

Ah. Must have been wearing his intentions on his face, slightly chagrined he sets the brush down before Elijah decides to pick up the ice-pick at the wet bar.

He had errands to run today and really didn't have the time to deal with bloodshed or broken furniture.

"Three young men home from college for the weekend" he reports dutifully, "Found in the woods, torn to absolute shreds so it was inarguably a supernatural killing and therefore, my theory is that there's a stray werewolf trespassing in town"

Elijah tilts his head slightly, " _Trespassing_? I wasn't aware that we owned this town in its entirety, shall I inform the Mayor?"

Klaus rolls his eyes, as if his brother would even know whom the Mayor is. He lets the challenge slide however, knowing that it would be complicated and slightly pointless to try and explain his reasoning to his older brother.

His half-brother.

With no understanding of his werewolf side.

Since the morning Klaus had woken broken and dazed, weak and devastated, still bound to the wooden poles that Elijah had helped Mikael chain him to, neither Elijah nor Rebekah or even Kol had ever referred to his werewolf nature.

Elijah had never even considered his participation in cursing him to nearly one thousand years suffering; trapped in the body of a vampire even though his heart and mind told him that he was unequivocally a wolf. Certainly, whilst he understood that he'd committed a wrong against his brother he felt little to no regret.

Klaus forces his mind away from that dark path before his hand started itching for a dagger,

"Regardless, they are here and should probably cease their killings, if only for my convenience. I'm going to check out the lands now to see if I can pick up a scent"

Elijah follows him to the door and Klaus sighs and tilts his head back,

"Would you like to join me 'Lijah?"

"Not in the least, however I would like a full report on anything you might find"

Or Klaus could just cut out the middle man and deliver it straight to Elena Gilbert.

He refrains from saying this however and makes tracks to his car, wondering how a ridiculously large mansion could feel so crowded with just the two of them there.

And of far greater concern- how was he supposed to enjoy alone time with Caroline if his brother was breathing down his neck?

He studies the backseat of his beamer but decides that it's not an option.

Caroline Forbes deserved _so_ much more than the backseat of a car.

* * *

He finds the murder scene easily but that's where his luck essentially ends. The problem with crime scenes is that once they were discovered any chance of tracking the killer by supernatural means was lost.

Vampire and werewolves primarily tracked people by scent but they couldn't find the scent of one person amidst the dozens that permeated the scene, even a supernatural scent would be drowned out by more than five or so humans. Witches had the ability to focus on the angry energy left behind at the crime scene but it was hard to pick up the right darkened aura when the average person had murderous fantasies whenever they had to wait more than five minutes in line for coffee.

It was why true telepaths and psychics stayed the hell away from crime solving, even the best of them could have their investigation muddled by just one overworked, underpaid lackey who hated their boss.

Thankfully, Klaus had been born in a time when the primary means of attaining meat was hunting and, even though Mikael had never allowed him to be part of the village hunting party, often out of sheer vindictiveness Klaus would hunt himself a stag, take what he needed and left the rest for the animals.

To have any success in hunting, one had to know how to track a creature.

When the creatures in question had been three deeply wounded humans who'd left splatters of blood in the earth it was admittedly slightly easier than expected.

The Sheriff's department had also left coloured little flags by every drop of blood for half a mile until the tracks were no longer visible to human eyes.

After that, Klaus had to track the direction the humans had come from using their footprints in the soil, the earth and foliage they'd displaced.

They'd skidded and fallen over many times, they weren't skilled in hiking or moving about a forest then.

His nose picks up something sharp and bitter. He follows the scent to shards of broken glass underneath a nearly scratched tree with still drying sap. The glass still reeks of cheap bourbon, very cheap stuff that was better used for lighter fluid than drinking.

A few yards away he finds leaves scattered over the earth, kicking them over with his foot he finds ash and debris from a camp fire. Someone had tried to cover it but hadn't gone to too much effort, obviously assuming nobody would get this far.

There's something strange that catches his eye amongst the greys and blacks of the ashes and he bends down, sifting through and picking it up with thumb and forefinger.

Lace.

Black lace.

A tiny strip of it remained with charred edges.

It had been thrown into the fire.

Inhaling deeply now and he narrows his eyes, looking around the area intently for signs of a fourth victim.

There's tiny punctures in the earth and the flat ovals in front of them.

High heeled shoes.

There was no way a woman could have outrun a werewolf in _heels_.

Unless she was the werewolf in question? Rather misogynistic of him to automatically assume the murderer had been male; after all, he'd seen many a woman brutally and quite cheerfully murder.

To this day Erzebet Bathory's predilections still gave him unpleasant dreams, all the more terrifying when one considered that she had been one hundred percent human.

So she'd been lured out here, or had done the luring, the males had got drunk and then the hunting had commenced?

Which begged the question- How the _hell_ had he missed a female werewolf in Mystic Falls?

And how brave or foolhardy would this werewolf have to be not to have fled town the moment he'd set up house?

He almost wanted to meet her just to offer his admiration.

Not that he'd be making social calls on female werewolves.

Not when he had _Caroline Forbes_.

Who had a mother for whom he needed to find the culprit of these murders.

After all, it wasn't just those three frat men but one middle aged man last month and that elderly man before that.

All of whom had been wandering deep in the forest in the first place. Even as surrounded by forest as Mystic Falls was, the typical resident surely didn't venture this far into woods, past the marked trails and to the point where they'd need supplies to replenish themselves for the trek back?

If there was a camping ground or store in town, he might be able to find information on those who were frequent hikers.

Better still, what would a nine hundred year old vampire know about modern camping supplies or the activities humans performed in the woods?

Naturally he would need to consult someone who would.

Caroline Forbes for example.

* * *

"Okay everyone!" Caroline called as she entered the gymnasium, catching the attention of the twenty kids sitting in the bleachers,

"I want to thank-you all for being here, I am so excited for Mystic Falls High first Sexual Awareness event it's going to be a lot of work but a lot of fun too!"

Her eyes sweep over the students in front of her and then check the clipboard in her hand, she'd only had ten people sign up to help out for the event and figured she'd have to order the cheerleaders to participate but with a two hundred percent turnout with some definite new volunteers...

In fact, out of the twenty kids, she recognised twelve as regular volunteers and the rest…

Were _guys_.

Guys who were all smiling or giving her meaningful glances and she was suddenly super grateful that she'd worn jeans today instead of a skirt.

She did not choose a good week to become aware of her own sexuality.

She clears her throat, "Okay, so I want everyone to get into groups of four and discuss what you think the most pressing concern for teenagers is regarding sex and sexual health and what activities we can have for the event"

The door at the other end of the gym, leading to the parking lot slams closed and Caroline looks up to see Sophie sauntering it with an extra sway to her step and a…well…an _attempted_ predatory smile on her face.

But if nothing else, maybe Sophie would draw some of the boys' attention from her.

"Hey, just join one of the groups" Caroline tells her with a tight smile, trying not to seem rude but not overly friendly either.

It wasn't her place to be pissed off that Tyler was rebounding with Slu- with Sophie, especially when she had moved on the very same day with Klaus except…

Okay, she hadn't moved on completely. She had been in love with Tyler and that wasn't something that went away overnight, even if she was starting something new with Klaus she was still thinking about her ex, wondering whether he was thinking about her, whether he was upset or hurting, if she had really been that bad a girlfriend that he could have moved on so quickly.

That didn't mean that she was going back to Tyler, not until she'd figured out her thing with Klaus but still, she wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of thinking that she was being rude to Sophie because she was angry or overly friendly to try and cover up her jealousy.

"Oh…actually Caroline I was wondering if I could like talk to you for a quick sec?" Sophie requests in a voice that's theatrically lowered but still carries to the bleachers, catching the attention of the volunteers who had an ear out for drama.

Caroline shrugs and smiles, "Sure"

She turns to the bleachers, "Okay, I want each group to take in turns listing their suggestions and see if any other groups had the same idea and then co-ordinate"

With a spin on her heel that she uses her vampiric abilities to make extra graceful, she leads Sophie out into the hallway.

The girl looks around and seems almost disappointed that there isn't anyone around, but the place usually cleared out pretty quickly after final bell,

"I just wanted to make sure you were cool with Tyler and I dating is all"

"Oh" Caroline blinked, suddenly feeling guilty about all the bad thoughts she'd had about Sophie for the last day and really for way before that.

"Sure, whatever I'm just glad that he's happy"

She expects to see relief on Sophie's face and maybe a moment or two of girl talk between them before she has to go back to the meeting but if anything, the mean smile on her face grows wider.

Sophie clearly brought her out here to bait her with bitchiness.

Unfortunately for her, Caroline Forbes has survived smackdowns from Rebekah, Katherine Pierce and Damon.

She's not going to be broken by one slutty cheerleader.

"But it must have been _hard_ to have been dumped by the Football Captain and now have girls wondering whether _I_ should be Head Cheerleader"

Caroline tries to stop her laughter and it comes out as a snort,

"I'm sorry" she covers her mouth with the back of her hand, " _You_? Head Cheerleader?! This close to finals that would be a _disaster_!"

The smirk falls off Sophie's face so fast it's almost like it was never there, she clenches her hands into fists and for an exciting moment, Caroline thinks the girl is going to throw a punch and feels the tingling in her gums and under her eyes that lets her know her own predator is waking up.

"Hey, Care!"

Startled, she snaps her head back and presses a finger under her eyes to make sure that the veins aren't protruding before turning to see Tyler at her side, his body positioned as casually between her and Sophie as possible, ready to intercede if things had gone south quickly.

Sophie turns to him with a butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth smile,

"Hi Ty" she singsongs, "I'm really looking forward to our date this Friday"

Tyler winces, "Uh yeah Soph, me too…listen, I need to talk to Care-oline for a second okay?"

Her eyes grow cold but otherwise Sophie shows no emotion, only holding her hands behind her back and subtly- for her anyway- pushing out her chest,

"Sure, I'll see you later"

She almost skips off, her bouncing step causing the skirt of her cheerleading uniform to inch higher and higher up her thighs.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline turned back to Tyler,

"Seriously?!" she sighed, "Her?"

He grinned and shrugged in the way she used to find adorably flirtatious and stepped closer, "Jealous?"

She blinked and frowned, "No but you could at least have found someone…wait" she held up a hand and pulled her head back,

"Are you dating Sophie to try and make me _jealous_?"

"Did it work?"

"Oh my God Tyler" she swung away from him and stormed down the corridor,

"You can't do that to a person, even a slutty one!"

"Well what was I supposed to do Caroline?" he demands,

"You blocked my number and apparently half the football team is planning to ask you to the Whitmore game this Friday and it's not like you are ever single for long…"

"Maybe you should have considered that I know my own mind and respect my decision" she interrupted coldly,

"Maybe you should have figured out that after Damon I wouldn't be cool with you using a person to try and make me jealous"

"Caroline" he tried to reach for her but she skittered back, "What d'you think is going to happen the second Klaus finds out you're single?"

She inhales raggedly and sees red, "He's going to ask me out and I'm going to make a decision which he'll have to accept" she exhales and enunciates her words clearly hoping that they'll sink into his brain, "I am not your property Tyler, I am not an idiot I don't need my virtue guarded from Klaus"

His eyes flash and his jaw clicks stubbornly, "But…"

She walks away before he can even finish and it's only because the gym is in opposite direction of him that she even ends up back in the meeting.

"Right" she shouts brightly, a little manic "What ideas do we have?"

While April Young is suggesting a pamphlet listing all the places in the district that have free condoms and Planned Parenthood facilities Caroline's fingers are flying over the screen of her phone,

 _To: Klaus  
I need an excuse to see you_

 _From: Klaus  
Are there any camping grounds/stores around Mystic Falls?_

 _To: Klaus  
Yes, be in the school parking lot in thirty and I'll drive you there. _

* * *

The meeting wraps up twenty minutes later and Caroline pretends to have forgotten something in the girl's locker room so she can linger behind while everyone heads home.

Klaus leaves his car in the street and walks to the parking lot, arriving just as she slips out of the gym, he's wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans, his curls blowing in the breeze and they cut a path across the asphalt; stopping only a hairs breadth from each other.

She lowers her head and their foreheads bump together gently, her eyelids flutter closed and she takes a few calming breaths.

"Had a good day then sweetheart?" he teases and she sighs,

"Take me away from here"

He slips his arm through hers and leads her to the car. The two of them have their heads bent together as he fills her in on the situation.

They look gorgeous together.

Adam Houghton notes this dejectedly as Caroline leads the guy to her car and they drive off.

He's seen the guy around town a few times, knows him vaguely as one of the Founding Family types who own tuxes and know how to waltz.

Figures that Caroline wouldn't have let the grass grow under her feet.

Ah well. Maybe he'd try his luck with one of the other cheerleaders.

* * *

A/N- Slow burn...Slow burn.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello Everyone.

So, the one-shot that started all this Bad Girl's Don't, has been nominated in the Klaroline Awards! I would like to thank all of you who voted for Bad Girl's in the Best Smut Drabble/One-Shot despite Klaus and Caroline never having sex.

* * *

"You know" Caroline drawled as the car slipped out of Mystic Falls proper and onto the wooded highways with the sinking sun dappling on the asphalt and the hood of her car,

"I can't see this…" she takes her hand off the wheel and flicks it gracefully between them,

"Lasting very long if you insist on lying to me"

Beside her in the passenger seat Klaus holds a hand to his chest in mock hurt and offence,

"I've never lied a day in my _life_ Caroline, truly though" he adds earnestly, "I am being truthful in this rare instance"

She raises her eyebrows, "Seriously?"

"You are a safe and legal driver?"

"I didn't used to be" he admits freely, "Until as late as the eighties I used to take great pleasure in figuring out just how quickly I could make it from one coast to another or in how few days I could get from Canada to Mexico. I tended to leave a trail of ruined cars behind me for Elijah or someone else to deal with too. However that was before the computerized age, speed cameras and the like"

She tilts her head in silent question and notes the wooden, hand-crafted sign announcing the Mystic Camp site three miles away, the main camping and hiking ground in the area.

"It's easy to compel one highway cop, or even an entire squad and get away with no further troubles but these days your name gets entered into a database, fingerprints get taken, faces registered" his mouth pulls down in displeasure, "With paper trails and watermarks it takes more and more effort every year just to keep anyone official from noticing us, let alone if I decided to cruise at six times the speed limit"

Caroline's stomach sinks as he talks, "I hadn't thought about that"

She hadn't either. Even though her mom was a cop she hadn't considered what she would do twenty years from now when her driver's licence, birth certificate, social security file and even her damn email all listed her date of birth.

And she was an internet kid, everything she did, all the parties she attended, all the fun she had with her friends, every competition she won- she posted about it online. Anyone who googled her name twenty years from now would be able to figure out that she was supposed to be a thirty-eight year old woman.

"How do I stay under the radar?" she asks him, already beginning to panic and to overthink, the steering wheel protests under her clenching hands and Klaus shifts in his seat, nudging her gently with his knee and sending little sparks of electricity shooting up her thigh. She emits an almost inaudible gasp at the sensation, properly distracted and he looks out the window so she can't see him smile,

"There's a vampire in every major city who handles all that kind of work, there's one in New York who I believe is friends with one of the Salvatore brothers"

She smiles and files away the issue for another day, noting that he hadn't offer to take care of the problem when it arose a decade or two down the track.

Probably because it was one thing to swear that she'd turn up on his doorstep one day in the future when they were still dancing- sometimes literally- around their feelings and another thing to make a promise that would be based on the continuity of their current relationship.

Thankfully they arrive at the camping site before she can start to descend too deeply into that rabbit hole.

"Mr Steely owns this place and the store on it" she tells him as they park,

"He's an old codger whose late wife was blonde so I should probably ask the questions"

Klaus' struggles to hide his smile, clasping his hands behind his back, "Lead the way love"

But when they step into the office it's to find a twenty year old woman sitting at the desk and Caroline instantly recognises Amy Fell, the girl who'd worn the slit hem dress in her Miss Mystic Falls pageant and been laughed off the court, she'd since then gone on a destructive path and taken an aversion to anything Founding Family.

And the last time they'd met at a house party, she'd called Caroline a ' _Stepford Slut_ ' and poured tequila on her dress.

Caroline takes a subtle step back and Klaus approaches the desk with his most charming grin,

"Hello love, I was hoping you might be able to lend me a hand"

She can almost see the wheels turning in Amy's mind. On the one hand, the Mikaelson's attended every Founding Family event and were clearly the wealthiest family in town, on the other- they weren't Founding Family and, as the old ladies of Mystic Falls couldn't trace the Mikaelson lineage back to the Civil War, they were considered _Nouveau riche_.

Furthermore, even when he was on his best behaviour, there was a predatory glint in Klaus' eyes and a bite to his British accent that told any girl over the age of fifteen that he was at the very least, a bad boy.

Caroline knew this for a fact but Amy certainly looked as though she wanted to find out.

"A few days ago I helped a woman who was lost in the forest, poor thing wasn't dressed for hiking at all" he leaned on the counter and Amy pushed her chair closer, entranced by her proximity to the handsome man,

"I was hoping you'd be able to help me locate her and make sure she's alright? I didn't get her name, the lass was quite shaken up"

Caroline meanwhile made her way over to the registry in front of the large map on the wall, she flipped back through the last few days, looking for any clues. It was a long shot, Klaus had mentioned that the girl had been wearing high heels and the frat boys were probably local enough that they considered themselves above signing in.

The registry is scarce this time of year, although she notes with interest that Whitmore College seemed to be running a few trips with increasing regularity through the deeper, lesser travelled parts of the forest.

Because that wasn't a horror movie in the making.

Meanwhile, Amy's trying to play coy with Klaus,

"Sorry" she laughs, "It's just so hard to think this late in the day when I'm so hungry…All I have going through my head right now is the delicious dinner menu at the Grill"

Caroline resisted the urge to snort as she meandered into the tiny book section that Mrs Steely had added after she'd celebrated her twentieth wedding anniversary on a trip to the Grand Canyon, having spent half her time in the souvenir stores picking up ideas for their own place.

 _Vikings, Witches, Werewolves and Vampires- A study of the Mythical Legends of Mystic Falls  
Atticus Shane. _

Huh.

Caroline picked up the book and browsed the back cover with interest, Damon's birthday was coming up and Elena seemed to expect her and Bonnie to buy him something. Bonnie had been suggesting a toy poodle but this would be just as good.

Amy was still trying to turn Klaus' interest to the Grill and showing less subtlety than Caroline had when she'd tied him to his bed and stripped him naked.

"If you found anything at all…" he begins in a demanding tone, "I need to know"

Caroline zooms over as Amy begins faltering and stuttering, obviously caught in the beginnings of a lie. She stands next to Klaus and crosses her arms in a posture very reminiscent of her mother, knowing that Amy would see that too.

"Today I found a pair of shoes just off one of the hiking trails" she admits begrudgingly, "Someone had obviously just tossed them so I didn't break any laws by taking them"

"What kind of shoes?" Caroline asked and Amy glared at her, "Jimmy Choo's"

In _Mystic Falls_?

That narrowed the possible list of suspects considerably.

"We'll need to see them" Klaus announces and Amy sulkily pushes herself to her feet and stomps over to the tiny kitchen/staffroom,

"They're in there" she points aggressively.

Klaus and Caroline round the counter and he steps into the staffroom and nearly knocks her to the floor when he hastily backs out again, sneezing violently.

Concerned Caroline turns to him and sniffs the air- ammonia, chlorine and…

"Did you mix bleach and _vinegar_ together?!" she demands in a shrill tone,

"Do you _know_ how dangerous that is?"

Amy rolls her eyes, "Chill Forbes geez, it's all household cleaning stuff. I just had to get the mud and dirt stains off the shoes"

"By turning the air toxic?" she shrieks before growling in frustration and grabbing a pen sitting on the bench. She holds her breath as she steps into the tiny area but she can still feel particles in her nostrils, burning the fine hairs. The plastic bucket in the sink has already started to suffer from the prolonged exposure to the chemicals and the shoes…

Caroline lifts one heel up by the back strap and notes with dismay that the shoe isn't salvageable.

The dye had been stripped from the leather which itself was starting to crack and peel, the heel had become unglued from the sole and the insert seemed to have melted away.

Worse still, Klaus wouldn't be able to pick up any scent from the shoes or even match them to the prints he'd seen in the forest.

With an irritated sigh Caroline drops the offending footwear back into the bucket and storms out of the building, making sure to grab Klaus' hand as she went past and lace their fingers together just to really twist the knife into Amy's back.

She hears the dark muttering behind her and definitely picks up the word 'bitch' and feels the tiniest thrill of satisfaction.

* * *

"Okay" Caroline began as they loitered by her car, enjoying the last of the summer twilight,

"If nothing else, we know that the woman had Jimmy Choo shoes and even on sale those don't come cheap"

Klaus reached into his pocket and withdrew a tiny piece of material, "I found this as well, fished it out of the fire, I assume it came from lingerie"

Caroline reached for the scrap gingerly before remembering that vampires touched way worse things than someone's possibly dirty panties.

She studied them and noted the floral design- was that a rose or a magnolia?

Either way, she was definitely the girl for this investigation.

"I should be able to make out the pattern and maybe match it up to a brand" she explains, trying not to brag,

"If we're lucky she does her shopping either in town or in Richmond and if we're really lucky she splurges on all her clothes. If so, well in a town like Mystic Falls a woman who can afford both high end shoes and lingerie? Narrows it down to about fifteen at most"

She suddenly realises that she's bragging about _fashion expertise_ , not being a tracker, cartographer, or having low-key forensic skills but her knowledge of fashion trends and the ability to see a pattern and narrow it down to the year and possible season it was released thanks to her religious readings of magazines.

But Klaus isn't staring at her condescendingly, he isn't checking out and nodding to pretend he's listening, he doesn't have an embarrassed, pitying look on his face.

Instead, he looks impressed and gives her a genuine smile, "That's fantastic" he tells her,

"I was worried I'd have to convince Elijah to throw a party and spend the night sniffing all the women, this will save everyone some grief and possibly quite a few restraining orders"

She giggles and when he asks her about how exactly she's going to go about tracing the panties back to the brand and then the owner, she answers casually and begins fishing around in her handbag for her car keys; she doesn't know how to accept real praise and actual interest in her skills from a guy, she's never had to before.

She changes the subject as they pull out of the parking lot and begin cruising back to town, despairing of Amy's stupidity and her slim chances for a successful future if she couldn't even manage not to create a chemical hazard during her lunch break.

"And a rather grim future for her love life if she tries to lure men in with the rather limited Grill menu" he commented drily, "But I am concerned that you weren't the least bit jealous sweetheart"

She snorts, "Jealous?! Of her? She's not the one who had you tied to a bed and begging for a touch"

"No" he agrees, his tone dropping several octaves and becoming husky, "That was _you_ Caroline Forbes, with that lovely, lithe body of yours"

He turns in his seat to gaze at her from under heavy lids while his hand reached over and landed on her knee.

And suddenly Caroline found her mouth going dry and her thighs spreading apart ever so slightly, she swallowed and reminded herself to concentrate on the road, not on Klaus' index finger which was tracing lazy circles along her jeans,

"You have spectacular breasts sweetheart" he grins, "And a round little arse just begging to be spanked"

Spanked?

She focuses on breathing steadily, even as her heart rate starts climbing with a pulsing throb between her thighs to match. She's never been spanked before, but she's always been curious and with someone who knows what he's doing, a grown man would know how to make it feel good and enjoyable.

His finger reaches midway up her thigh and dips down and her eyes flicker to follow his path,

"However, let's not forget the lovely treasure between your gorgeous thighs with the delightful ambrosia you of which you offered me the briefest taste"

His finger slipped down and rubbed her juncture through the denim and she found herself pressing against him as her panties grew wet…

And her car drifted to the middle of the road.

Okay.

She turned the wheel and pulled onto the gravel, rolling to a stop and killing the engine. She sighs and tilts her head as Klaus buries his face in her neck, his breath warm on her skin,

"Tell me" she invited as his finger played with the button on her jeans, "Klaus…I've been a bad girl"

She can feel his smile against her neck. A bad girl was what she'd claimed to be that afternoon in his bedroom when they'd fantasized about their first time together.

Perhaps it would be their thing.

He takes a ragged breath, "Get out of the car"

She scrambles out on unsteady feet and slips her keys into her back pocket, easing her way around the hood where Klaus waits for her, his hands behind his back as she approached, his eyes hungry and he licks his lips.

She tripped the last step and fell against him, their lips crashed together and their tongue clashed and duelled, she flings her arms around him and he presses her against the side of the car, rubbing his denim clad erection against her.

"Talk to me" she begs, when they break for air, "Tell me what you want to do to me"

He grins, "What I'm _going_ to do to you sweetheart" he corrects and she nods.

He releases her and she leans against the car, "Stand-up" he orders, "And take off your top"

She glances around and sees that they're in the middle of nowhere still, outside of town and unlikely to be spotted by passing traffic at this time; so she slowly lifts her blouse over her head, shaking out her hair and dropping the top onto the ground. Klaus' eyes rake over her bra and she pushes out her chest, preening under his gaze,

"Pull your bra down so I can see your breasts"

With an excited grin she slips the straps off her arms and then pushes the cups down, they settle under her breasts, lifting them up and he takes a step forward before he even realises.

"With your consent?" he checks, his hands now at his sides and she nods eagerly,

"Uh huh"

He cups her breasts in his hands, swiping his thumbs over her nipples which are so hardened and sensitive from arousal that she has to bite down a whimper.

He smirks, his eyes are dark with desire, colour high in his cheeks and his lips wet from constantly running his tongue across them.

"I'm going to enjoy playing with these" he tells her,

"When I have you naked and spread before me, I'm going to massage them first with my fingers and then I'm going to take them in my mouth, licking, lapping and biting until you are fluttering against me like a hummingbird" he smiles and his eyes flicker to her golden hair, "And when you're spent from lovemaking, I'm going to have you hold them together for me so I can pleasure myself between them until I come on your pretty chest"

He ducks his head and presses a wet kiss to her left nipple, she moans and arches her back as he straightens up, "Turn around, hands at your sides and flat against the car"

Caroline's eyes are flickering closed and her breathing is heavy with desire while her arousal soaks her panties. She spins shakily and presses herself against the passenger side of the car, the glass of the window is cold against her skin and she starts at the sensation before deciding that it's a pleasurable contrast. Especially when she rubs her thighs together to try and find some relief.

Klaus reaches around and rests his hand on the button of her jeans, "With your consent love"

She nods, her cheek against the roof of her car, "Please"

He chuckles and pops the button and unzips her jeans, tugging them down to expose her bum, her panties following in quick succession, joining the denim under her cheeks.

She's never shown her bum off like this before, but she's never had the chance to or the right situation, somehow showing off her bum was so much naughtier than showing off her breasts or vagina; but now, she's arching her hips in silent offer to Klaus.

He gives her a quick, light smack and she squeaks in surprise and delight, biting her lip as she contemplates erotic spanking.

"Bad girls need a good slap on the arse" Klaus growls in her ear, holding her hair back and nipping at the shell,

"They need to be bent over a knee and have their pretty round cheeks painted red from spanking as they squeal and plead for more"

"And you're a bad girl aren't you Caroline?"

She nods with a strangled whimper, uttering what she hoped was a sexy line,

"Very bad…I'm gonna need a good, hard spanking"

He growls and reaches down, gripping her arse with his hands and pressing his fingers into her soft flesh, "I'm going to spank you sweetheart and with me, you'll enjoy every slap"

He runs his thumb between her cheeks and she starts when he brushes over her rim, sensing her hesitation and uncertainty there, he lifts his hand off her and she momentarily worries that she's spoiled the moment before she hears the rustle of clothes and gasps when Klaus nips at her right cheek.

"Back around sweetheart" he instructs her from his crouching position, "And shimmy out of those jeans for me, I want to see all of you"

Swallowing hard, Caroline moves cautiously until she's facing him, leaning her bum against the car for support. Her panties are still covering her vagina and when Klaus surges forward, his hands on her hips to hold her in place, pressing a hot, wet and fierce kiss on the silk just above her clit she cries out and nearly loses her footing.

"Shoes off first" he decides, giving her a crooked smile, "With your consent my delicious love"

She holds up her left foot and he takes her boot, firmly removing it and placing it on the gravel before swiping a spot clear of stones for her to rest her foot. When her right shoe follows suit he clasps his hands, looking up with blatant sexual desire, "Jeans first, then remove your panties and give them to me"

Quivering with lust, Caroline's hands are trembling as she peels off the layers and stands before him completely exposed and scandalously aroused by it.

"Put your right leg over my shoulder" he commands, "I want ease of access"

Shakily, she slips her leg around his arm and put a hand behind her on the car for balance as his warm breath ghosts over her vagina, which is clenching and soaking wet, he smirks at the reaction he causes in her.

"I want to drink you up sweetheart" he murmurs, "I want to sit you on my face and eat you up until you're screaming my name and dripping down my chin. When you're soaking wet for me, I want to put you on your stomach and slam my cock into you as you plead for me to go harder and faster. I want to have you on your back, spread-eagled and begging for me to fuck you senseless. I want you on your hands and knees moaning as I take you like an animal. I want you to straddle me and ride me until we both collapse under the weight of our own climaxes"

It takes everything in her not to rip his clothes off, pull him into the back seat and sheath him in her hot, soaking wet vagina. Especially when Klaus lifts his head up and begins licking at the arousal that's dripped onto her thighs.

Caroline's thoughts were scattered somewhere along the spectrum of 'Wow, stubble doesn't feel too bad after all' and 'Is it rude to hold him in place?'

Her head falls back and she sighs, her fingers slipping from Klaus' hair as his mouth…

 _Snap_

Her head snapped back and she frowns, "Hey Klaus?" she prompts him gently,

"Yes love?" he lifts his eyes up to meet hers,

"Did you hear something?" she asks, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He goes still,

"Did _you_ hear something?" he responds and she's about to laugh it off embarrassed before remembering that this is Klaus, he's not going to make fun of her or laugh her off as being stupid.

"I think so" her voice is still high, with the inflection at the end to phrase it almost as a question.

He doesn't ask her to elaborate. He snatches her panties out of his back pocket and slides them back up her legs with astonishing speed, her jeans quickly following and he rises to his feet as he buttons them before fishing the keys out of her pocket.

"In the car" he tells her, " _Now_ "

"What…?" she starts but he's pushing her into the passenger seat and flashes around to the driver's side. He doesn't even bother adjusting the seat or checking the rear view mirror before starting the car and pulling out onto the road, shooting a mile up the highway before Caroline can even register that he's going about five times the speed limit.

"Seriously?!" she raises her eyebrows at his overreaction, "I might have just been imagining things"

"Caroline love," he runs his hand over his mouth, drops down to the legal speed and adjusts the seat,

"If there's one thing I've learnt after centuries of being a predator in forests just like this one, it's this- If a woman engaged in premarital sexual activities with a man in the middle of nowhere thinks she heard something strange, she did and that something strange is usually something very, _very_ lethal"

She shivers and turns around, looking through the rear-view mirror as if expecting to see a wolf standing on the highway behind them.

"Do you think it was the werewolf?" she asks, her leg jiggling up and down in her nervousness,

Klaus shrugs, "Possibly…hopefully she'll figure out we're onto her and either leave town or at the very least cut back on the killings"

"What if she comes after us?" Caroline worries but he turns to her with a smile,

"This close after a full moon you'll be able to take her easily, she comes after me and the problem will be solved"

Relieved at his apparent lack of concern, she leans back in her seat,

"Do you think we're cursed?" she asks suddenly, speaking before thinking again,

"Of course not sweetheart" he assures her with an amused grin, "Just exceptionally unlucky and quite possibly cock-blocked by cosmic forces"

She huffs and runs a hand through her hair in frustration, the mood completely and utterly ruined.

"How long is your brother in town?" she turns to him and he rolls his eyes,

"Not long, just until one of us is dead from sexual frustration…probably me, I think he'd like you if he bothered getting to know any female who wasn't brunette"

She laughs and the mood is a lot lighter when they reach her house, Klaus deciding to walk back to the high school for his car so they aren't seen together. They share the quickest of kisses before she's stepping into her dark and empty house and headed straight for the shower.

It occurs to her as she's curling up into bed that night to tell Klaus about the game at Whitmore that Friday, after all, everyone would be there and between the bonfires, the drinking and the general chaos they'd surely be able to sneak away into the woods for an hour or two.

* * *

Interesting.

Niklaus.

The Original Hybrid. One of the most powerful, feared creatures in the world, kneeling at the feet of the young girl, taking the position of supplicant instead of one of power.

The werewolf had watched the young girl, had seen her nod frequently, giving her consent; even stripped naked she held complete control in that sexual relationship.

Which meant that she was likely the Hybrid's weakness.

* * *

A/N- So I'm stuck in a wifi-less apartment for the week with a beach and swimming pool which is a great break from the Aussie winter, so updates are a bit slow but getting there.

Also, this is going to be a long story because apparently I can't write simple ones :(

I love you all.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- If anyone is interested in making a cover for my works, let me know because I am terrible at making them myself.

* * *

Caroline wondered what life had been like for teenagers before mobile phones.

It must have been nice not to have been woken up in the morning by the irritating buzzing on her bedside table and Damon Salvatore's name flashing across the screen.

"Is Elena okay?" she demands, first thing and can almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"Why would I be calling _you_ if Elena was in trouble?" he scoffs and she sits up, the frustration energizing her,

"Why are you calling me at all?" she snaps as she climbs out of bed and begins searching her wardrobe for an outfit both school and football game appropriate in case she didn't get time to head home and change before the game.

More importantly, why wasn't Stefan running his usual interference?

He was usually the go-between so that Caroline didn't have to deal with the asshole brother more than necessary.

"Because I need an update on your panty raid."

What?!

Crap. She'd told Bonnie and Elena about having gone to the campsite. Obviously she hadn't told them everything, or really anything at all, just the very bare basics.

Klaus and I went to the campsite to see if there'd been any trace of an overdressed female, there was a pair of shoes that Amy had found but she'd bleached them to death, on the way home we thought we were being watched.

No lies but no in-depth analysis about all the things Caroline had been willing to let Klaus do to her on the side of the road either.

She should have known that Elena would go straight to Damon with the information, perhaps even before she'd gone to Stefan.

Caroline wondered if Elena had even spoken to her boyfriend yet.

Not her issue for the moment.

"I'm still looking" she tells him, "It could take awhile"

Especially because she'd spent the last two days dealing with AP French, Psychology and English essays, tests and general homework while trying to keep her cheerleaders in line as Sophie continued bragging to everyone that she had a 'hot-date' with Tyler on Friday.

And the Sexual Awareness week wasn't going to plan itself.

But does Damon Salvatore care? Not unless you were a brunette doppelganger dating his younger brother.

"You're not translating an ancient text Barbie" he sneers, "How hard is it to figure out where a pair of panties came from?"

"When I'm going by one scrap of a pair that could have come from anywhere in the world or at best thirty different stores in Richmond?" she snapped,

"Gee, it's not hard at _all_!"

"Look Barbie, just figure it out so we can find out who's killing the humans and all go back to our usual programmed schedule okay?"

If he continued talking to her like she was a slow five year old, she might pour some sugar in the gas tank of his Camaro or pour bleach into his laundry load.

Maybe she could reschedule the lunch with the head of the Police Widows Support group on Saturday and push back the cheer squad session because most of the girls would be hungover anyway and head to Richmond to prowl the lingerie stores and see if she could spot the panties there?

Maybe Klaus could even come along as well, for a second pair of eyes?

No. She nips that plan in the bud, Richmond on a Saturday was the place to be for any Mystic Falls resident over the age of thirteen and Klaus was way too attractive to go unnoticed by her female peers. Especially when they were still gossiping about her and Tyler and trying to figure out whom she'd be dating next.

She sighs as she contemplates her day, her to-do list and the consequences if she didn't get everything done.

And that was just the immediate emergencies.

* * *

"Ah yes," Elijah's sarcastic drawl echoed throughout the cavernous living room,

"Football, the sport of the philistines. Shall we be required to wear team colours to this stimulating event?"

Klaus resisted the urge to roll his eyes,

"You are more than welcome to remain home, brother," he offered as he perused the maps Caroline had sent him,

"I simply wished to keep you updated on my whereabouts, as per your request."

Elijah had seemed rather suspicious about his little brother having apparently settled down for the moment.

However, Niklaus couldn't be an evil villain _all_ the time, especially when there wasn't very much reason for villainy at the moment. His siblings were scattered to the four winds, unlikely to be betraying him or holding him up as the greatest evil. The Mystic Falls gang had currently ceased in their attempts to kill him. His hybrids were kicking back in rural Arkansas, drinking on his dime but otherwise causing no fuss, except when they were showing off how great hybridity was to werewolves still bound by the moon.

In fact, the only issue was the one he was investigating with Caroline, the case of the serial killing werewolf.

"You may want to come along however" Klaus suggested to his brother, "Mystic Falls will be empty of residents come this evening."

"An empty town," Elijah scoffed, "A town emptied for the pleasure of watching college men suffer concussions, leading to lasting brain damage while those in the stands drink themselves into an early grave, to stop drinking only long enough to be date-raped by football players."

"And people accuse me of being a killjoy," Klaus mutters under his breath, "Stay home then."

Elijah comes and stands before the coffee table, "What are you looking at?"

Thirty-three rooms in this house and he couldn't get a moment of peace, but it'd be even worse if he daggered his brother and the rest of the family came back to free him and punish Klaus for his 'violent and cruel' behaviour.

"I'm studying all the public maps available for the area in which the murders took place" he explains, "See here?" he points at the red marks, "I've looked over every single map and failed to see a reason why these people would be in this particular stretch of land. There's no hiking trails, no water, no rocks to climb and the caves aren't marked on the map and therefore, likely haven't been rediscovered."

His older brother hums at the conundrum,

"Perhaps it is the scarcity of reasons to venture that far into the forest that attracted these persons?" he suggests,

Klaus lifts his head as he considers that, "You think they were more criminal than careless wanderer?"

His brother shrugs, "It would certainly make more sense…now, what does one wear to the decline of intelligent society?"

* * *

By the time Caroline pulled her car into one of the last parking spots available in the stadium, she'd gotten so many texts from her cheer squad about Tyler and Sophie's date that she might as well have snuck into his house and spied on them herself.

Despite the fact that the Whitmore home games were some of the biggest events on the Mystic Falls social calendar and that as a Mystic Fall cheerleader, Sophie was supposed to be at the game so she could see how a college level squad performed, Tyler was not taking Sophie to the game.

He'd invited her over to his house to watch a movie.

She was bringing over Fifty Shades of Grey.

The movie that Caroline had point-blank refused to watch and once spent a solid hour ranting about to him after she'd made the mistake of reading the book.

At the time Tyler had agreed with her that abuse and lack-of-consent wasn't sexy, but then again, at the time the two of them had been dating. Now he was free to watch whatever he liked.

Not that they'd actually get around to watching the movie.

She'd been told by three different cheerleaders that Sophie hadn't planned on wearing underwear to the date.

Good for her. Caroline hoped she didn't wear stockings either, otherwise she could end up with a yeast infection.

She makes sure to have a super happy, carefree smile on her face as she, Bonnie and Elena make their way across the parking lot,

"I see the drinking's started early," Elena comments disapprovingly as the sounds of cans being opened and bottle caps being twisted off filled the evening air. Bonnie reaches over and runs a hand down their friends arm comfortingly, meeting Caroline's eyes and knowing that Elena would likely be getting a ride home with Stefan and Damon later. Understandably, after her parents crash, their friend was super careful about driving, road conditions and considered anybody who had any alcohol in their system while behind the wheel as completely unforgivable.

Which, despite the best efforts of Caroline's mother, would be the greater portion of residents driving back to Mystic Falls tonight.

The girls enter the stadium and almost immediately lose each other in the press of bodies. Caroline huffs and pivots, looking for the familiar heads of brunette hair, but both of the girls are short and the only people she can see in the near vicinity are heavy built men. One of whom ends up 'tripping' and 'falling' into the nearest support beam after he tries to grab Caroline's ass.

She decides to head to her seat and hope to meet her friends there, so caught up and irritated in the push and pull of the crowd that when someone grabs her arm, she nearly flashes her vampire eyes at them,

"Come now, sweetheart" Klaus teases, "I thought we were better friends than that?"

She blinks in confusion before seeing his brother behind them. And Elijah might not be in a three-piece suit but he still looks like he's standing aboard the Titanic after it'd hit the iceberg.

"Mistakes happen," she retorts as she pulls her arm away, but steps closer to him under the pretext of keeping out of the way of the crowd.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We've come for dinner and a show," Elijah snaps unhappily,

"Dinner ruined by cheap beer and the show titled, 'The mediocrity of mainstream culture"

Caroline raises her eyebrows, "Someone missed their helping of team spirit," she turns back to Klaus, "We should see if we can find anyone who knew the frat boys after the game." she suggests and he hesitates and looks to his older brother.

"Oh, go ahead," Elijah offered the smallest of nods, "After this debacle, I'm going to try and find somebody sober to feed on."

He looks at the ticket in his hand and up at the signs before striding off against tidal wave of the crowd, cutting an imposing figure as he disappeared into the hall.

"He's been like this all day" Klaus complains, "Is it wrong that the best part of my night will be trying to find a murderous werewolf with you, love?"

She laughs and straightens her shoulders, pleased with herself, "Mine too" she says, before the siren starts blaring for people to head to their seats,

"Meet here after the game?"

They part with a clasp of hands too quick for the human eye to notice, completely unaware that their interaction had been watched by a Whitmore cheerleader.

* * *

If the mood before the game had been energetic and busy, afterwards, when Whitmore won by nearly fifty points, it was rapturous and completely chaotic.

Especially when a large bonfire had been set up on the main campus lawn.

"I don't know how we're supposed to find anyone in this." Caroline said, stumbling as someone knocked into her and Klaus fell back a step to link his arm through hers.

"I don't know sweetheart, big crowds are always fun," he put his mouth to her ear under the pretext of being heard and scraped his teeth along the shell,

"If nothing else they give people the opportunity to slip away."

She shivered with delight and suddenly saw the night for all the opportunities it presented them.

No-one would notice they were gone in this mess, if she didn't answer her phone she could claim that she'd lost it and have it dropped off at Lost and Found, if she didn't make it back tonight she could say she'd met some cool girls and stayed up all night talking.

She wondered if there were any empty dorm rooms. Maybe rooms left over because freshman intake had been smaller than expected?

Heck, she might even settle for a couch in a locked room.

She presses herself closer against Klaus and gasps when the image of her naked atop him flashes through her mind.

 _Naked and straddling him, her head falling back as she moaned loudly, his mouth on her breasts, his hands on her hips, bringing her down…_

"Seriously?!"

Klaus picks up on the obvious annoyance in her tone,

"What's the matter love?" he asks, "Do you want me on top?"

"What?" she turns to him, "Oh no, that was great, that over there is the problem"

She points at the frat house they'd just passed and he follows her direction, "Damn"

Yep.

The ground floor windows were covered in black material.

"Well…points for effort" he comments as they begin moving towards the front steps, and the door is wide open with music playing inside. He pushes his foot over the threshold experimentally and leads her in.

The frat house is attempting to hold an Irish wake, attempting and failing. The photos of the three men are set on a table that people are now playing beer pong on and only three or four people were in black.

"Let's see if we can find their rooms," Caroline suggested, using the moment a white guy started trying to rap, to sneak upstairs with Klaus.

Who, for all his attractiveness and charisma, would never be able to convince her to have sex in a frat house.

She could almost smell the germs.

She could definitely smell the unwashed linen.

" _Hey!_ "

They both turned to see a drunk guy lumbering over to them, "This area is out of bounds!"

Caroline smiled politely, "Sorry, we were just…"

"Unless you're legal and ready to go, get out bitch."

In one fluid motion, Klaus had the man dangling by the throat against the wall,

"First off," he said, "You shouldn't measure the worth of a woman by whether or not you can fuck her, secondly tell me where the rooms of the three murdered boys are."

Apparently vervein hadn't made it into the college cafes yet because Klaus' compulsion works and the frat boy silently leads them up another flight of stairs,

"Jimmy and Tommy roomed together," he tells them in a voice free of emotion,

"Sammy was two doors down."

Klaus and Caroline sent him on his way and forced their way into Jimmy and Tommy's room,

"Smells like pot and jack," Caroline mutters, as they use their supernatural vision to see their way in the dark, "Which I have to assume is typical frat boy odour?"

"Be thankful you don't have the olfactory senses of a werewolf sweetheart," he responds in a tight voice which told her that he was deliberately not breathing,

"I'm going to need a shower and some scented candles after this."

Despite the situation she grins flirtatiously, "What a coincidence, I happen to have both back at my place"

She spins on her heel and checks out the one shelf high up on the wall, stretching on her toes and pretending not to notice that Klaus was checking out the back of her thighs.

There are a grand total of three books in the room, two are books on criminal law and the other is the Karma Sutra. Caroline rifles around on the desk while Klaus gingerly rummages around in the drawers, using a pen to move things around.

"That's strange," she murmurs aloud and holds up the two printed schedules for him to see,

"Both guys studied humanities subjects but they have a book on criminal law?"

Klaus shrugs and crouches down so he can see under the beds, "Perhaps they were reading up on drug possession? Or perhaps they were thinking of changing majors?"

No. Caroline thinks it's something more than that and she opens her mouth to tell him when he fishes out a box, dragging it across the floor with the pen.

"I thought pornography was on television now?" he asks curiously as she kneels down beside him, grimacing at the magazines in the box, "And the internet?"

"Doesn't mean some people don't go old school." She points out as she borrows the pen to flick the magazines out of the way, even as she tries to ignore the titles and the naked- and in her opinion, terrified- looking women on the cover.

The pen touches something solid and she flicks another magazine out of the way to see a photo album.

"Seriously?!" she moaned, "I don't want to see what's in there."

"Nor I, sweetheart," Klaus swallowed, removing his jacket and using it to cover his hands as he lifted it out,

"I think I'm beginning to understand why they had books on criminal law."

Caroline shudders in disgust and stands up, wiping her hands on her top as she pointedly looks away, focusing on the bonfire visible from the window and waiting until Klaus smacks the album shut and kicks the box back under the bed.

"So," he begins, "Three men, apparently with the goal of performing every position in the Karma Sutra, lure a woman out to the forest, which is strange because this is the first time they've done this outside of this room and out of their way. Still, they lure her out there and, either she was aware of their actions and went there to exact revenge, or she was unaware and their attack was vicious enough to trigger her change. Which isn't impossible but she would have had to have been fighting for her very life."

"Why was she wearing high heels though?" Caroline asked, "Even if I was headed to the woods for a party or a date I wouldn't be wearing expensive shoes."

He shrugs, "And that wouldn't explain the other victims as well…they can't all have been criminals."

"I'll have my mom look into them anyway," she decides before jerking her head, "Let's get out of here."

The night has grown even crazier when they step outside and the smell of alcohol is matched only by the scent of burning wood.

* * *

Despite the situation, Caroline knows that she and Klaus won't have another opportunity to sneak away like this and slips her arm back through his, her fingers stroking his skin.

They walk around the bonfire, skirting the loud makeshift dance floor, the keg stand competition and the DJ playing his music far too loud for anyone in the immediate vicinity to be able to enjoy it. Caroline panics for a moment when she thinks she sees Elena in the crowd but she can't see either Damon or Stefan nearby so she was likely mistaken.

However when Klaus leads her past the two girls selling marshmallows for five bucks a pop she definitely sees a familiar face.

"Is that Hayley?" she asks, pointing her out, elaborating when she sees that the name is lost on him, "Tyler's werewolf friend."

Klaus isn't that much taller than her but stretches up and nods, "Yes," he goes to move on but Caroline hovers uncertainly,

"I think I recognise the guys she's with…" she explains, "From the frat house."

He nods and shoulders a hipster out of the way so that Caroline can cut a path towards her, calling her name.

Hayley Marshall clearly isn't sober when she approaches and Caroline can smell pot but she still seems in control of herself.

"Hey beauty queen," she drawls, "What are you doing this far from the sorority parties?"

She and Hayley have never got along all that well but that doesn't mean that Caroline is going to turn a blind eye, she leans in towards her,

"Be careful around those frat guys," she tells her, "Three of their brothers were rapists."

Hayley does a double-take, "Thanks," she says, "I will be,"

Her gaze is suddenly over Caroline's shoulder, "Hey is that…"

Caroline shrieks as she's tackled to the ground, the air being knocked out of her lungs as Hayley lands on top of her. For an instant, she assumes that the werewolf bitch is trying to fight her and goes to punch her in the stomach,

"No stay down," Hayley shouts in her ear, "I saw a gun."

Gun.

Something no high school or college student wants to hear.

Elena and Bonnie. Matt and Jeremy. Her mom was probably at the game too.

Screams erupt around them and, realising they're more likely to be trampled to death, Caroline pushes Hayley off her and shoots to her feet, holding her arm tightly so they don't get separated.

"Where'd you see the gunman?" she asks, even as she sees people running away from the bonfire and figures that is probably where he is.

"Not a gunman"

Klaus' voice comes from beside her and she turns to see him standing there, looking annoyed and a little pale, she frowns in confusion before she sees how exactly he knows that.

There's an arrow sticking out of his stomach.

* * *

" _Caroline!_ "

Her mom appears at the ambulance just as they've finished compelling the paramedics not to try and treat Klaus' completely healed arrow wound. She braces herself for her mom's panicked hug, "I'm fine," she swears, "I'm okay, the shooter only hit Klaus."

Liz leans back and raises her eyebrows, "I assume I'll be dealing with a body then?"

Her mom has a surprising amount of judgement in her voice considering that the corpse in question would have fired a weapon in an area crowded with students but Caroline shakes her head,

"W… _he_ lost the attacker in the chaos"

Liz heads over to the ambulance where Klaus is so busy studying the arrow he'd pulled from his side that he hasn't even noticed the shock blanket draped across his shoulders.

"I told the campus police that you'd be more than happy to co-operate with them." Liz informs him sharply, catching his attention, he gives her an annoyed glare, unhappy to have had musings interrupted.

"That arrow looks old," Caroline blurts out, to distract her mom and her _something_ before they started snapping at each other. Klaus nods,

"The design is positively ancient," he tells her, "Even older than I am, which means the bow used would have had to have been of a similar age for the arrow to be fired effectively."

"Nearly a thousand years old,"

The three of them turn to see a young man with curly black hair approaching them with an almost shy smile,

"That arrow was part of a set retrieved from an archaeological dig and on loan from the Richmond Museum" he explains,

"And judging from the fact that it was fired tonight, I'm guessing that it was stolen from my office."

He holds his hand out to Liz, "Atticus Shane, Professor of Archaeology and I'm guessing, in need of a new lock on my door."

Caroline recognises his name,

"You're the one who wrote about myths in Mystic Falls" she said and he nodded,

"I am, and I often take my students on field trips there when I'm feeling too lazy to teach."

Liz shakes his hand, "Do you know anyone who might want to steal a weapon from you?"

He frowns contemplatively, "No-one who wouldn't rather sell it online than shoot it at a random citizen…are you a student here?" he asks Klaus who shakes his head,

"I don't know anyone here and no-one who wouldn't have access to a gun to shoot me with, rather than an ancient arrow."

He twirls the arrow in his hand with a flourish and runs his finger over the tip, "Rather blunt, didn't even do much damage and there's no poison on the tip, not even a sedative of some sort."

"Right," Liz clears her throat, "I'll send the police to your place tomorrow for a full statement, and you're free to go."

"I'll drive you home" Caroline volunteers, crossing her arms nervously when she sounded a little too eager, "Just in case you decide you're hungry between here and the parking lot."

Klaus' grin is positively predatory, "Now that you mention it…"

She huffs theatrically and turns on her heel, stalking off to her car at such a pace that Klaus has to hurry to catch up, but the moment they're out of sight of anyone, she pulls him behind a tree and pressed him against the bark as she kissed him passionately, sliding her tongue into his mouth and rubbing it against his languorously.

"I'm glad you're okay." she murmurs and he steals another kiss,

"My main concern was for you love," he chuckles, "I thought you and Hayley were fighting, I didn't even notice until she mentioned the gun and I realised I had something sticking out of my stomach."

She tangles her hands in his shirt and pulls it down enough so that she can kiss the hollow of his throat,

"Come on, we should have at least an hour or two before my mom comes home."

They clambered into the car just as Caroline got another text from one of her cheer squad, apparently Tyler's date with Sophie was going _really_ well.

As if she even cares at this point.

Strangely enough, all she wants at this moment was to be sitting on her living room couch with Klaus as they drank chai lattes and talked over tonight.

Not that she wouldn't also take a bit of foreplay in the shower.

* * *

A/N- Thank-you all for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- I'm slow and sporadic on updates at the moment because on top of uni work, I found out that I had a month to pack up my life and move to an entirely different country for two years, which means visas, apartment hunting, packing up my life here etc. So I have been exhausted and unable to concentrate long enough to write, but I should be having plenty of opportunities soon.

* * *

Klaus feels a strange sense of pride when he steps into the bathroom in Caroline's house.

It's only the second time he's showered there but neither time had he been able to pick up on a male scent.

He glances at the guest towel Caroline had given him both times, a shade of pink known as primrose that only just avoided clashing with the lavender coloured soap.

No, he was definitely the only male Caroline had let shower at her house.

He allows himself to smile at that knowledge as he pulls off his shirt and observes the damaged material, slipping his finger through the hole pensively.

The arrow had been fired into his stomach and yet had been one inch away from his left kidney, normally, Klaus would chalk that up to the luck of the devil however, the archer had fired at a moving target through a crowd of humans and he had been the only one struck?

No. Whomever had fired the weapon had the skill to have shot him through the head or heart but had chosen not to, the question was why?

He hears the bathroom door creak open and he can identify Caroline from her soft, ladylike tread- taught to her through endless dance and etiquette classes, her breathing- just a little too far spaced out for a human and her scent- floral perfume, blood and the hint of sunburn that all vampires capable of walking in the sunlight carried.

Her small hands touch his back, her palms spreading across his skin and the gentlest of kisses is pressed against his spine,

"Are you okay?" she asks, "I mean…you know, after being shot and all?"

Caroline often did that, she would speak and then clarify herself with a hint of an apology in her tone. He'd used to do that as well, it was a tough habit to grow out of but she would one day.

"I'm momentarily perplexed," he tells her, "I'm not entirely certain that the archer intended me harm."

She giggles and her hands slide down onto his stomach, embracing him from behind as her face rests against his back and Klaus is caught between the eroticism of the act and the sweet intimacy. He has the beginnings of an erection and a warmth in his heart that makes him feel guilty for his arousal.

"I'm not up to date on hybrid enemy etiquette," she teases, her mouth pressed to his ear, "But doesn't an arrow to the stomach mean they _don't_ like you?"

"Perhaps…" he allows, more distracted by her nails raking gently across his stomach,

"Or perhaps it's the equivalent of playground teasing? Their way of saying they like me?"

The next moment, Klaus finds his back colliding with the bathroom wall and Caroline is pressed up against his front,

"Well too bad," she growls playfully with only a hint of possessiveness, her voice reverberating straight to Klaus' erection,

"Because I called dibs first."

He chuckles and is about to argue the point simply to tease when Caroline reaches behind her and unzips her dress, kicking it out of the way and rubbing her miles of bare skin against him, she reaches up and kisses him, taking his lower lip between her teeth and biting down gently before pulling away.

"Dibs."

Klaus catches her in a bruising kiss and spins them around so that she's pressed against the wall and she lifts her leg, hitching it over his hip as his hands ran up and down her sides, ghosting over her bra and trailing over her panties.

"Take them off," she murmurs as he cups her and begins rubbing the heel of his hand against her teasingly, inhaling deeply as he smells her arousal.

"We don't have much time."

Those five words were the perfect summary of their relationship at the moment.

And Klaus decides that when they do finally have the time, he's going to whisk her away somewhere, possibly his apartment on the Champs Elysees, spread her out on his bed and keep her there for several hours.

Or days. It really depended on how many more instances of cockblocking they had before them.

"How far do you want to go tonight, love?" he asks as he leaves a trail of burning kisses up her neck, biting softly on her jaw and he feels her tense ever so slightly,

"Um…" she drawls and he can smell the nervousness on her, "Not all the way." she answers, and he tries not to show how much that statement confuses him.

' _All the way_ ' is a rather vague concept of sexual measurement for him, one that had changed greatly over the centuries. However, he figures that there are some acts that don't fall under that classification and she can always tell him when to stop.

So he lowers her foot back to the tiled floor and hooks his fingers into her panties, dragging them down until she kicks them off and he smiles at she bares herself for him. He pushes his knee between her legs and then reaches down with one hand to spread her folds and the other to stimulate her clit with his thumb while his fingers begin spreading her arousal along her sensitive skin. She gasps and whimpers when he touches her, her golden hair brushing against her shoulders as she bucks and trembles against his hand, she moans his name when he slides one finger into her and then two, reaching as far as he can before stilling and kissing her teasingly on the lips as she groans into his mouth in confused desire.

"If you want something, sweetheart," he whispers as he breaks the kiss, "You have to ask for it or take it."

Her eyelids are heavy and her eyes are dark with lust, the colour high on her cheeks and her lips wet, her chest is heaving and her arousal is drenching his fingers as her walls clench around him.

She swallows and bites her lip, "Please finger me," she murmurs quietly, with a hint of delighted shame, "I want to come."

He kisses her to hide his triumphant grin and resumes his ministrations, Caroline was an enchanting combination of eagerness and modesty, a sexual goddess in one moment and a shy maid the next; and while Klaus was certain that he would enjoy her in any form, he knew that when she learned to voice her desires, she would find unrestrained pleasure in the act.

He goes carefully, studying her reactions to determine what makes her quiver and what has her gasping until she's riding his hand, her fingers are gripping his arms and she pushes her head back against the wall, climaxing with a strangled cry.

He brings her back down gently, barely able to hide his grin as she buries her face in his neck, her hands trembling as they wrap around his bare shoulders. He knows in these moments that he has her, the intimacies after the sex, when she hordes the few stolen moments they have left and dedicates them to these sweet nothings.

It proves to him that she isn't driven entirely by lust.

Which is another reason to feel triumphant pride.

* * *

Caroline has just finished plating up the lattes when Klaus emerges from the bathroom, still towel-drying his hair, gloriously shirtless and his pants are low on his hips,

"Okay," she says as she pushed his mug towards him, "I'm a huge fan of this look but you'll have to put something on before my mom comes home"

He shrugs, "I figured that my shirt was evidence, love," he lifts the mug and sniffs at the contents curiously, "What's this?"

"Liquefied white oak stake," she deadpans before giggling, "Chai latte."

He sips at it and makes a sound of surprised delight, "A lot sweeter than I'd have thought, chai isn't usually so…saccharine."

Of course he was used to chai in its original form. The Original drinking the original.

She digs up one of her father's old shirts for him to wear and leads them into the living room and sinks down onto the couch with a tired sigh,

"Okay," she sighs and hopes the warm drink doesn't put her to sleep, "What do we know?"

"Three incidences of werewolf killings in the forest and the last one at least was a self-defence or act of justice," Klaus notes,

"Elijah suggested that we should look into the other two for a criminal past, after all, they were awfully deep into the forest, even for hikers."

Caroline leans forward, resting her chin on her fists and blinks slowly,

"So one werewolf is running around the forest and kills any criminal human they come across?" she asks in confusion,

"Can a werewolf tell the difference between innocent and guilty?"

He shakes his head, "No, which makes me think they must be choosing their targets during the rest of the month and luring them out to the woods or running over a specific plot of land that is popular amongst the criminal faction of Mystic Falls."

Caroline laughed quietly at the idea of Mystic Falls having a criminal faction, usually they had to outsource to Richmond if they even wanted to buy something stronger than pot.

"And then someone, possibly the killer shot you with an arrow tonight," she continues,

"Do you think maybe they were warning you? Trying to get you off their land?"

Klaus growls, "Mystic Falls is my land, by ancestral right and show of strength. If the werewolf is hoping to chase me away they'll have to try harder."

She frowns at that and tries not to be distracted by how comfortable the couch is and just how the exhaustion has suddenly hit her.

So much for the sex endorphins and adrenaline and…how late was it?

She felt something warm draped across her and snuggled closer towards it, recognising the heaviness of the doona from her bed, but when she stretched her legs she realised that she was still on the couch, she hummed in contentment and burrowed down.

"Goodnight, love." Klaus whispered, his hand ghosting over her hair and she pouts, not opening her eyes,

"Stay." she begged, caught up in the delightful sensation of sinking into sleep.

He chuckles, "Alright, then."

* * *

 _What starts as a pleasant dream, a swirl of colours and bliss turns dark quickly._

 _Flashing images. Jarring sounds. Paralysed limbs. Unable to run. Unable to fight. Unable to breathe._

 _She screams._

* * *

 _Bang!_

Caroline shoots off the couch at the sound of gunfire, tearing away the doona that obstructs her as her eyes fly over the room just in time to see Klaus dropping to the floor with a large amount of his brain _not_ inside his head.

Her predator side takes over and she lunges across the room and has his assailant dangling by their throat before their voice gets through to her,

"Caroline," they choke her name, "Baby it's _me_."

" _Mom!_ " she drops her in horror and staggers back her eyes clearing of blood and her fangs receding quickly but not fast enough to cover up her crime.

She's attacked her _mother_.

She swallows and approaches her cautiously, noting the smell of gun powder and seeing the gun lying on the floor,

"I'm so sorry." she whispered as her mom begins massaging her throat,

"It's okay sweetie," she gasps, "As long as you're okay?"

Okay?

Remembering her nightmare, Caroline wraps her arms around herself, looking down at her strapless dress and remembering vaguely that she'd changed clothes after putting Klaus into the shower.

Then she'd fallen asleep on the couch?

"I came…home," Liz begins slowly, "I heard your screaming from the driveway and I came in to find _him_ …" she spits the word with such venom,

"Holding you down and…honey you looked like you were naked."

 _Oh_.

Liz had seen her naked, screaming daughter being held down by the Original hybrid and reacted accordingly.

Hopefully Klaus would see that.

Caroline shook her head, "I was having a really terrible nightmare," she explains,

"I'm guessing Klaus was just trying to wake me up, we were waiting for you to get home" she continues, realising how the situation looked otherwise,

"I was so tired though, I must have fallen asleep."

A really horrible squelching noise that Caroline thinks might be Klaus' skull pushing his newly healed brain back into place intrudes upon the moment and she looks to her mother,

"Umm…you should maybe get changed," she tells her, "And…uh…stay in your room until I explain everything to him?"

Liz shakes her head firmly, "I'm not leaving you with an angry monster."

A quiet drumming of Klaus' index finger twitching against the wooden floor and Caroline is pushing her mom out of the room, "Go, I'll be fine."

Probably.

She waits until she hears her mom's bedroom door lock and perches on the coffee table between Klaus and the door, waiting impatiently until he begins breathing and his eyelids are twitching.

"Okay" she stresses the word, "I'm not sure if you can hear me but my mom only shot you because she thought you were attacking me, I know you weren't but she didn't know that, so if you could you know, react calmly to her blowing your brains out…that'd be great"

Klaus gasps and scrambles up onto his knees, groaning as he held out his hand and caught the bullet in his palm,

" _Bloody hell_ ," he murmured, "I forgot how much that hurt."

He raised his head to take her in, "Going by the level of calm your exhibiting, I'd say whoever shot me has been dealt with?"

Caroline grips her hands and repeats herself, relieved when Klaus' response is less murder and mayhem than she had anticipated.

"You were crying for ten minutes before you began screaming to wake the dead," he tells her, reaching over to rest his hands on her knees, his concerned filled eyes gazing into hers,

"I couldn't wake you, no matter how hard I tried."

Chills run up and down her spine. Her vision blurs and she tries to swallow her fear.

She couldn't remember her nightmare, but if she had to guess, she'd put money on the discoveries they'd made earlier having caused some _unpleasant_ memories to surface.

Memories that Klaus definitely, could _not_ know about.

"I'm okay," she lies, smiling, "But maybe we should do this tomorrow when my mom is a lot less inclined to shoot you?"

He threw her a wickedly flirtatious grin and rose slowly to his feet,

"That inclination wouldn't lessen if she knew what exactly I planned to do to you, Caroline Forbes."

She blushed and grew warm at the memories and the knowledge of his intentions. When the image of her head thrashing on the pillow and crying his name as his head was buried between her thighs flashed across her mind she felt herself grow wet with arousal.

She glared at him even as her smile lit up her face, "Go!" she ordered, jumping to her feet to push him out the door, he walked backwards, allowing her far inferior strength to move him until he was standing on the porch and his shoulders were shaking with laughter.

She slams the door, pointedly turns her back and has to clap a hand over her mouth to smother her giggles.

She has just regained control of herself when her mother emerges from the bedroom,

"Caroline," Liz steps into the hallway, her voice tight and her body tense, "Is he gone?"

"Yep…sorry," she looks to the side, "You can totally talk to him tomorrow though, it's not like a thousand year old hybrids have day jobs."

"Or spare shirts apparently," Liz adds, looking down at her clasped hands, "I assume that's why Klaus was wearing the shirt you bought your dad for his first dinner with Steven and his daughter?"

Caroline smacked her forehead, mortification following right on the heels of that realization,

"I totally forgot," she swore truthfully, "I just grabbed the first shirt in the wardrobe…I'll get it back from him dry-cleaned and completely spotless."

Her mom nods, accepting her promise and opens her mouth as if to say something further before sighing,

"Goodnight sweetie."

"Night mom" Caroline sang, grabbing her doona from the couch and padding to her room.

Liz echoes the sentiment but half an hour later she's sitting up against the bedhead unable to shake two things from her mind.

The look of terror on Klaus Mikaelson's face as Caroline screamed.

And the look of possessive rage on Caroline's when she'd seen his body.

* * *

"Okay…so what kind of cake do you think Damon would like?"

Sometimes Caroline wondered whether she should just bite the bullet and tell Elena Gilbert to bug literally _anyone_ else about Damon Salvatore.

But best friends don't do stuff like that.

Still.

Caroline is standing in the fourth cake store they've visited in an hour and she wants to snap.

Like…fatalities and blood splattered walls snap.

"Red velvet!" she pipes up as the idea comes to her, "With the frosting completely covering the outside so it's a surprise. He'll love the colouring and make jokes about it"

"Great," Bonnie drawled from beside her, bending down to check out the display cases,

"Because that won't get old _really_ fast"

Elena clearly loves the idea however, because she remembers the last store had the 'perfect cake' and novelty candles as well, which were definitely a must.

"Do you think we should have a theme for the party?" she asks innocently as she picks up the Sesame Street Count candles, pouting in a way that had Caroline momentarily panicking that Katherine was running around impersonating her best friend again.

Nope, she hears Elena's heartbeat and relaxes…although now she's slightly hungry.

And processes Elena's last question.

We. Theme. Party.

 _No_.

There is no way that Caroline is spending her entire Saturday planning a themed party for Damon Salvatore.

 _Nope_.

 _Not_ going to happen.

She'll give Elena a colour-scheme, send her to Mr Morgan's Party Suppliers, tell her to use Caroline's name to get a discount, make some suggestions for the food and that is it.

"I don't think Damon will be in to the whole themed party," Bonnie answers, "He'd probably be more comfortable at the Grill getting hammered with Alaric"

Elena's shoulders drop unhappily and Caroline knows that if Damon could see her now he'd not only throw himself a themed party but would decorate everything down to the toothpicks.

But that is not her problem and not her place to judge.

They arrange to pick the cake up later and head inside the mall, Caroline instantly heading for a map to try and find the lingerie stores.

Elena might get a free pass but Damon would rip Caroline a new one- maybe even literally- if she didn't figure out who the panties belonged to soon.

"So," Bonnie whispered as Elena took a call from Stefan, "You should know that Tyler is invited to Damon's birthday party tomorrow"

Caroline blinked in surprise and shook her head, "Wait? _Seriously?!_ "

Bonnie nods, leaning against the map and looking down at the level below them, the humans going about their Saturday, buying clothes and electronics and not searching for werewolves or buying vervein seeds to plant in the witch garden.

"Yeah, Jere didn't want to go to Damon's party alone and apparently, I don't count because I'm friends with Elena," she pauses to roll her eyes,

"So he invited Matt who invited Tyler who said that he'd probably show up."

Huh.

Caroline frowned, "Probably?! It's Sunday in Mystic Falls, there's nothing else to do."

Bonnie shrugs, "Maybe he thought it'd be weird between the two of you?"

She sighs and having memorized the map, starts walking towards the first store,

"It wouldn't be weird if he'd just move on instead of sleeping with my cheerleaders to try and make me jealous and trying to order me away from Klaus."

She sees a flash of blonde hair in the crowd and spins around quickly, startling Bonnie,

"What's wrong?" she asks but Caroline shakes her head, "Nothing, but I said Klaus' name while outside a panty store, I keep expecting him to pop out of thin air."

Bonnie laughed as Elena finally hung up her phone and caught up,

"Should we tag team this?" she asked, "You check the thongs, I check the bridal section and Bonnie takes the special's rack?"

Best Friends Forever.

After the fifth store, Caroline has seven pairs of lingerie that could be a match and an absolute headache that has her fangs pushing from her gums and the desire for blood singing in her veins.

Sending Bonnie and Elena to the car, she grabs the first man who tells her to 'Smile' and drags him into a quiet hall, feeding and then compelling him to forget and to stop treating women with disrespect.

Feeling much better, she looks down at the 'sample' panties she'd compelled from the stores under the excuse that she needed to match them to the scrap and they were all very similar. Which is true. But she probably didn't need to have taken the ones in her size, or imagined how Klaus would react to seeing her in them.

It was bad enough that she spent her nights fantasizing about him instead of sleeping.

* * *

Damon's birthday party was great.

For those whose last name was Salvatore or Gilbert.

The rest of them weren't having as much fun.

Caroline had deliberately scheduled in her witness statement so that she wouldn't be able to help Elena set up the party, but she'd still arrived an hour early to find that Elena- true to form- was terrible at setting up for a party.

She loved her dearly but Elena was the worst at organising. So Caroline found herself overseeing the decorations, fixing the food, setting the table and only getting a thank-you from Stefan when the birthday boy walked in with his brother and his brother's girlfriend.

Damon didn't even acknowledge her until he was unwrapping his presents.

"What the _hell_ is this, Barbie?!"

Caroline inhaled sharply and forced her tone to remain polite and friendly, keeping her eyes on Damon and the present she'd got him,

"A history of the myths of Mystic Falls" she explains, "Considering that every time a new supernatural comes to town, we have no idea who or what they are, I figured you could read that and see if there's any information that's useful for us."

The birthday boy glares at her and she can tell that he's tempted to hurl the book against the wall, breaking the spine and loosing the pages but Alaric, snatches the book out of his hand and reads the back, "Atticus Shane," he reads the name, "Isn't he the guy whose arrow ended up in Klaus' stomach?"

Caroline nods, "Yep, which is why I thought we should read up on his works."

Alaric makes an interested noise and cracks the book open, the historian in him ready to end the party right then and there so that he could spend the afternoon reading.

Damon opens the rest of his presents- an award winning book from Elena, a tie from Stefan that Caroline noticed would suit both brothers, a car cleaning kit from Bonnie which Damon seemed genuinely excited about, and Tyler, Matt and Jeremy had bought (or stolen) him a bottle of bourbon.

After lunch, Caroline heads out to the back porch so that she won't get roped into cleaning duty and resists the urge to steal Damon's birthday bourbon, choosing to take the high road and serve herself a martini from the wet bar.

Because she's apparently doomed to become one of the Mystic Falls socialites. Women who drink from noon onwards, grieving for their lost youth and determined to remain forever young despite pushing fifty.

Well, two out of three ain't bad.

She wished that Klaus would text her, distract her with a sext or an emergency, something to get her away from this play acting and from the anxiety that something she did or said would give away the fact that she didn't hate him as much as everyone else did.

The back door slides open and she squeezes her eyes shut, ready to scream if someone even uttered the word 'dishes'.

"Hey."

She looked up and blinked in surprise at seeing Hayley Marshall standing on the deck,

"Hey, I didn't realise you were coming."

The girl shrugged, "Got bored, Ty's mom was given me some wicked side-eye so I decided to crash…that okay?"

Caroline smirked, "It's fine, there's some red velvet vampire themed cake coming along soon, you can help us eat that."

"Vampire themed?" Hayley frowned in confusion, "Its blood-free right?"

She shrugged teasingly, "Guess you'll have to find out."

"Well," Hayley strode over and leaned against the railing, "Before this party gets creepy I wanted to talk to you, after the incident Friday night, I ended up with the frat boys at an all-night café…They didn't roofie me," she adds when she sees Caroline's concern,  
"Also, roofies don't work on female werewolves."

"Anyhow," she continues, "I got to talking with them and it turns out that the frat couldn't prove anything, but they were pissed off with the three guys who died, they were threatening to kick them out of the house if they got caught again. The guys had all sworn they were done and playing by the book but Tommy- one of the guys I spoke to- mentioned that they were spending a lot of time in Mystic Falls, saying that it was for class but there was also mention of a cheerleader?"

A cheerleader?

Caroline's world goes dark for a moment as she grips the railing, cracking and splintering the wood underneath her hands. She had known what the boys had probably planned and done but it was one thing to know in an abstract sense and another to find out a human detail about the victim.

She was a cheerleader.

Like Caroline had been when…

"Thank-you," she turns to Hayley, "For helping and for the other night."

Hayley smiles and looks down modestly, brushing off the gratitude and is about to say something when Matt comes barrelling to the door,

"Hey…" his face is pale, "There's something happening at Whitmore"

"Care!" Elena shouted her name, "Get in here!"

The three of them race into the library to find the barely used television blaring, everyone standing around staring at the screen or their phones,

" _We're here at Whitmore Campus where several students are being treated by paramedics or taken straight to hospital suffering, what is believed to be, hallucinations and sleep terrors. So far, the first victims all appear to be members of the Delta-Iota-Kappa fraternity although we are starting to get reports of other students experiencing the same symptoms…"_

"Mass hallucinations?" Damon snorted, "Somebody put a little something in the punch."

"No…" Caroline contradicted him slowly, "They didn't…because I had them too,"

She looks away from the tv screen, "On Friday night, when I got home, one minute I was talking to Klaus, the next I passed out on the couch, I thought I was just exhausted but I had a nightmare and was screaming so loud that mom thought Klaus was hurting me and he couldn't wake me up, no matter what he tried."

Alaric frowned, "Wait? So you had the same symptoms almost forty-eight hours before the human students?"

"That's actually normal," Stefan explains, looking up from Elena's phone where they were following the updates via twitter,

"If we haven't fed for a day or two prior or consumed animal blood instead, our blood thins and moves around our body faster to keep us animated so an air or water born virus or chemical warfare will affect us faster, but we will also heal faster as well, I learnt that in war"

"Chemical warfare?" Hayley scoffs in bewilderment, "In a frat house? Frat boys are assholes, not evil villains to be smoked out or whatever"

"Unless they weren't the target," Bonnie muses, catching everyone's attention,

"Caroline, you said that you and Klaus thought you'd been watched on your way back from the camping grounds and the murder victims were identified as frat boys so maybe someone realised that you two would visit that frat house on Friday night?"

That made a lot more sense…however Caroline probably wasn't the target either.

"I have to go find Klaus," she says, patting herself down as she searched for her car keys and then hurrying to the parlour where she and Bonnie had stashed their bags, "If someone is targeting him he needs to know, and if someone has poisoned him like they did me…we cannot have an Original Hybrid wandering around town hallucinating"

When she turns around Tyler is inches from her face and she gasps, putting a hand to her chest,

" _Seriously?!_ " she snaps, "Now is not the time to be scaring the on-edge vampire!"

"You're going to see Klaus?!" he demands, "Why?"

Caroline shakes her head in disbelief, "Um… _hello_? Did you not just hear me, someone is targeting Klaus with some sort of hallucinogen I have to warn him!"

He doesn't move, "You know, you could just text him."

She frowns and walks around him, becoming irritated when he follows her,

"I don't think this is really SMS-appropriate ' _Hi K, just lettin u no dat da air is poison frowny-face emoji xoxo C'._ " her voice is thick with sarcasm as she marches out the front door, heading down the sloping lawn to her car,

"You know," Tyler cuts her off again, and she has to stop walking or risk running into him,

"Every time I see you these days you're always talking about Klaus or rushing off to see him"

" _Seriously?!_ " Caroline threw her hands in the air in frustration,

"We just found out that an entire frat house was poisoned and that Klaus and I could have been the targets and you're worried about my _dating_ life?"

"Well why else would he be spending so much time with you?" he demands angrily,

"Gee, I don't know…because there's a serial-killing werewolf running around and he has an issue with invading wolves on 'his territory'," she glares at him,

"Not everything is about me, Tyler and in case you've forgotten…we," she gestures between the two of them,

"Have broken up and you don't own me, which is probably a good thing seeing as you had sex with Sophie on Friday night."

She can see that he's getting angry, clenching his jaw and breathing through his nose while his entire body tightens with tension,

"You broke up with me," he points out, "So I'm allowed to see other people."

"Right," she nods, "And I don't have to explain myself to you, so goodbye Tyler."

She tries to walk away but he grabs her arm and yanks her backwards, causing her to stumble and drop her handbag, "What the hell...?"

"Has he asked you out yet?" he demands and she shakes his arm off as roughly as possible without dislocating anything,

"No Tyler, Klaus hasn't asked me out yet," she shouts, "But I'm beginning to think maybe I'll say yes when he does"

* * *

A/N- Slow burn!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- Yeah it's been a while. Sue me, I'm an MA student.

* * *

Klaus wasn't answering his phone.

That was _bad_.

Especially when she- Caroline Forbes- was the one ringing him.

He _always_ took her calls.

They hadn't even had sex yet; he should still be waiting by his phone for the green light.

Not that she was using the promise of sex to keep his attention…but _still_ ,

Why wasn't he answering his phone?

Unless he'd gone to sleep?!

Caroline wasn't entirely sure what kind of sleeping pattern Klaus had, certainly he didn't keep to the regular schedule of the normal people, seemingly up at all hours with no sign of fatigue. She supposed that it was the whole, thousand-year-old, immortal thing. After all, she'd already looked up ways to cut back on her need for sleep to get more done.

But was Klaus the kind of guy to take an afternoon nap?

Probably not intentionally.

Just like she hadn't fallen asleep intentionally that night.

* * *

For lack of better options, she drives straight over to the Mikaelson mansion, pulling right up to the front door and the only reason she didn't leave the car idling was because, if Klaus was momentarily insane, she didn't want him to have access to her vehicle.

"Klaus!" she shouts loudly as she strides across the marble floor, " _Klaus!_ "

"Please be home." she whispers as she tries to figure out where his art studio would be.

Didn't artists have a golden hour or something? Was that morning or evening and would he have chosen a room to catch the rising or setting sun?

She hears the faintest sound from the second floor and flashes up to the hallway just as a man in a suit backs out of Klaus' bedroom, dragging the prostrate hybrid by his feet.

Caroline panics before recognising him.

Elijah.

"What happened?" she asks, darting around him and falling to her knees, lifting Klaus' head and cradling it in her hands. Elijah doesn't deign to provide an explanation,

"Please release my brother Miss Forbes," he requests with cold politeness and a hint of urgency,

"I'm afraid that this is a family matter."

She looks up at him, "What are you talking about? He needs help!"

"He needs to be sequestered where he won't be a danger to others," Elijah argues,

"I don't know why you're showing such concern for my brother but please be aware that right now, it could cost you your life."

"Was he hallucinating?" she demands, climbing to her feet and resisting the urge to stand over Klaus' body or sit on his stomach to try and stop his brother from 'sequestering' him,

"Was he having nightmares or sleep terrors?"

Elijah drops his brother's feet and straightens up, regarding her with interest now,

"Hallucinations," he answers, "And judging from your questions I would say that he isn't alone in this predicament?"

She runs a hand through her hair, "Half of the student body at Whitmore are being hospitalised right now and we think he might have been targeted with some sort of airborne poison."

"Ah," Elijah bends down and scoops up his brother, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of flour,

"And do we know the cure, or at least the time required for the poison to leave his system?"

Caroline shrugged, "I was fine once I woke up."

"You're younger though and likely have more blood in your system than he does," Elijah pointed out,

"He could take hours or even days before he is safe again."

She puts her hands on her hips, " _Seriously?!_ And how safe will you be when he wakes up and finds himself locked away wherever you stuffed him?

Elijah's lips thin, "He'll understand my concern."

Caroline frowns at his statement and follows him as he descends the stairs, carrying his brother with relative ease as he pushes open a door and steps into a hallway that she hadn't seen before. It contains only one door and when she sees inside, she realises that it's a dungeon.

"Are you going to watch me or foolishly attempt to impede me?" Elijah asks as he settles Klaus down on the ground and picks up a pile of chains,

"Either way, I'd suggest you not alert my brother to your role in this scenario at a later date."

Caroline wonders what it is exactly that Elena likes so much about _this_ Original, every encounter she'd had with him just made her think that he was a grade A asshole.

"I'm going to stay and make sure that your brother is okay," she holds out her hand,

"So if you could give me the keys, that'd be great."

She sees a flash of amusement in his eyes, "Unfortunately, that would not be wise, Niklaus is quite cunning and manipulative, even when he is under the burden of insanity. I would so hate for you to release him only to find him in the throes of madness induced violence."

She glares at him and doesn't move her hand, "Klaus won't hurt me, he's part werewolf, he knows my scent."

She hopes. Mason Lockwood's diaries had mentioned one time when he had recognised Katherine Pierce when he was in wolf form and known not to attack her.

Because he had been sleeping with her.

The woman who looked like Elena Gilbert- who hadn't been a day over sixteen at the time.

Which was super gross.

But she's distracted from that line of thought by the way Elijah's now appraising her and figures that Klaus wasn't the kind of guy to kiss and tell with his brother.

"If you're certain…" he murmurs, dropping the deceptively small key into her palm,

"But do be so kind as to inform Miss Gilbert as to your decision, I would be so upset to have her hold your death against me."

Caroline raises her eyebrows and gives him her best social queen death glare before he sweeps out of the room and she flinches at the sound of the door banging shut behind him.

Sighing, she pulls her phone out of her handbag, surprised when she sees how good the reception is in the windowless room.

"Okay," she says to Klaus' lifeless form as her eyes slowly adjust to the light, "Let's hope that whatever this is works its way out of your system quickly."

Shockingly, Klaus' momentarily dead body didn't answer her.

* * *

With time on her hands, Caroline slumps down against the wall on the other side of the room- not wanting to risk the off chance that Elijah was right after all- and begins thinking over what Hayley had told her.

A cheerleader.

Those assholes had targeted a cheerleader.

If Caroline had been the girl she was when she'd met Damon Salvatore…

She could have easily been _that_ cheerleader.

And the part of her that is still a really terrible person, even though she was totally working on it, tries to reason that they probably hadn't gone after anyone that she knew but she was top of the cheerleading pyramid and the social hierarchy so she had met and knew every cheerleader at Whitmore. She knew none of them lived in Mystic Falls or would have had any reason to go there and she really doubts any of them would have driven out for a date.

Eager for a distraction, her eyes flicker back to Klaus, studying his inert form. It was weird how vulnerable he looked when he was momentarily dead. She had seen him naked, but even when he'd been tied up under her, reduced to a begging wreck for the merest touch of her tongue…there had still been power there, an aura of strength and control.

Now, he looked like a young man, just a regular person, not the strongest, most feared creature on the planet.

And somehow, that made their relationship- or their whatever- a little bit frightening for her.

Because it made him human and capable of being hurt.

Just like her.

A half-hour later, he comes awake with a gasping intake of air and Caroline scrambles to her feet and waits on tenterhooks until he turns his head to face her,

"Hey," she says before blushing at her stupidity.

Klaus doesn't seem to find the greeting stupid however, he's too busy watching her through narrowed eyes, not glaring, but as if he can't see her properly,

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned,

"Are you _real_?" he counters and she frowns,

"Um, yeah?"

He doesn't handle her confusion well, instead climbing to his feet and moving to the door,

"Elijah!" he bellows his brother's name and she winces as her delicate eardrums take the abuse. Fortunately, the elder Mikaelson is quick to arrive behind the door,

"Little brother."

"Is Caroline Forbes actually in here with me?" Klaus questions and Caroline shakes her head in disbelief,

" _Seriously?!_ Of course I'm here."

He ignores her however, "Brother?"

"She is," Elijah confirms, "She insisted on staying with you, apparently you were the victim of the same poisoning that Ms Forbes suffered recently, she insisted on staying with you until the malady had passed. She is also the one holding the keys."

Klaus finally turns to her and she dangles the keys between her fingers, his shoulders relax and he sighs,

"Apologies love," he murmurs, "But I had to be sure."

Suddenly, she understands why Elijah's first response to seeing his brother act crazy hadn't been to seek help but to lock him away. She figures that over nine hundred years, someone- a witch or an enemy with access to hallucinogens- must have tried driving Klaus insane before.

But she probably shouldn't ask him about that now, not when his brother is here, listening in on them.

"I think I know who the werewolf is," she says, striding to the door and shoving the key into the lock.

* * *

On Monday morning, all anyone can talk about is the incident at Whitmore. Ten seniors are still in the hospital and theories are ranging from a rival team trying to sabotage the footballers, to an evil sorority, to home-grown terrorists.

Caroline can count at least nine people- ten, if Elijah Mikaelson turned out to be capable of emotion- that would have preferred any of those possibilities to the more likely scenario.

Someone had probably targeted Klaus and hadn't cared if they potentially had to go through half a campus of innocent people to get to him. And that was terrifying because, while Klaus had a lot of enemies out there, typically, they were willing to remain in the shadows, not attract attention from human authorities.

State police had called the FBI in to investigate and that added the extra thrill to the gossipers.

Caroline was positive that she'd had a heart attack when her mom had told her that she would likely be questioned by one of the agents because she had been at the frat house where the airborne poison had probably been released. Caroline Forbes did not want to have an FBI file on her, not when she wouldn't be aging for the next few centuries and, knowing her luck, would always find herself in questionable scenarios incapable of being explained to regular human beings.

She had rung Stefan in a blind panic but he'd promised her that he and Damon would take care of it.

And once she'd double-checked that take care of it didn't mean 'Vampire lunch-time' she'd relaxed and set about her next task.

Speak to the werewolf.

Or at least, the werewolf suspect.

The suspect that Klaus had almost laughed in her face when she suggested the name.

* * *

 _"Sweetheart, your methods of deduction are sound but there is no way I could have been that close to a werewolf and not picked up on their scent, for that matter, you would have noticed as well."_

 _Caroline had rolled her eyes, "It fits and besides, just because you didn't pick up on it doesn't mean that she isn't a werewolf, maybe she was hiding her scent?"_

 _He raises his eyebrows but still doesn't write her off as an idiot and Caroline almost loses the argument out of shock. She's not used to the men in her life not writing her off as a ditz._

 _"Through perfume?" he suggests doubtfully and she shrugs,_

 _"Or through magic, you forget that Grams lived here all her life, Bennett witches are hugely powerful and who knows what spells she was casting before she died. I asked Bonnie but Grams never told her about any magic she'd done before she figured out that she was a witch."_

 _Klaus mouth thins, "Yes well, the abhorrent neglect of Bonnie Bennett's magical education aside, how exactly do you suggest that we confront this werewolf?"_

 _"I'll do it," she says firmly, "I know how cheerleaders think and how to question her without the situation getting violent, if you're there, she may get frightened and attack."_

 _He grins, "Don't tell me you're afraid for me, sweetheart?"_

 _She glances at the tumbler filled with blood in his hand, he was lounging on the couch in one of the many sitting rooms in the mansion with her sitting across from him. Elijah was in the library playing the violin but Caroline would stake money that he was keeping an ear on his brother's heartbeat, making sure that he was okay._

 _As the most powerful creature in the world, it had to be frightening when you came across something capable of knocking you down._

 _"If things go south, innocent people might get caught in the mess and the FBI is already at Whitmore, the last thing we need is them coming to Mystic Falls to investigate the ridiculous mortality rate and the statistical anomaly of the ever empty blood bank."_

 _He glances down with a chuckle, "Very well, sweetheart, but I will be close by in case matters get out of hand."_

 _She nods and checking her phone- she has an insane amount of missed calls from Tyler and even a few from Bonnie and Elena- she gets to her feet, "I have to go…"_

 _She hesitates and looks to the wall, as if she could see through the plaster and hallways to where Elijah is standing and determine whether or not they were safe._

 _Klaus answers her by taking her hand, turning it over and pressing a kiss to her wrist,_

 _"Until tomorrow, Caroline."_

* * *

"Sophie," Caroline called as she strode into the locker room, the cheerleaders in the midst of changing, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sophie was standing by her duffel bag, in her black lace bra and thong and nothing else, showing off her body in a way that brought Katherine Pierce to mind, she looks up, throwing her long hair over her shoulder and regarding Caroline coolly, "Sure."

She leads her to the coach's office, closing the door and locking it before waiting three seconds and banging on the opaque glass, causing the girl who'd been eavesdropping to wince and pull away.

She'd done reconnaissance earlier, trying to figure out the best location for a confrontation, typically underneath the bleachers was a good spot but for a vampire, all that wood could be a bad idea. However, the latest coach was an egotistical maniac and as such, instead of wooden chairs, had leather.

She perches against the desk- which she'd pretty sure is fake wood- and motions for the still partially naked Sophie to sit down,

"What's up?"

Sophie doesn't seem alarmed but she is alert, and Caroline debates whether to put her at ease before deciding to just jump in,

"I know you were the girl those three dead frat boys lured into the woods that night." She reveals and the colour drains from Sophie's face.

"How?" she demands, and Caroline crosses her arms, "I was told that they'd lured a cheerleader out there but none of the Whitmore cheerleaders would have gone that far out for a date, I matched the scrap of lace found in the woods to a Victoria's Secret pattern that I remembered seeing you wear before and the shoes…your older sister used to have a habit of stealing designer shoes, she hasn't been caught in a while but I'm guessing you borrowed the shoes out of her closet."

Sophie looks down at her hands, clenched tightly in her lap, "Are you going to tell everyone?"

Caroline blinks in surprise, "Do you really think I'm that big a bitch?"

She wants to crouch down and take her hands comfortingly but doesn't think that she has the emotional currency built up with this girl to pull it off.

"Tell me what happened."

Sophie sighs, "It wasn't my fault, it's never the girl's fault but anyway…I met the guys on one of Professor Shane's field trips through the forest and they seemed like decent guys, interested in wildlife and the archaeological findings in the area, so when they told me that they were camping there for the weekend and that I should swing past and say hi, I didn't think it was anything bad…"

"Hang on," Caroline frowned, "Why did you care that they were interested in the forest?"

The look Sophie gives her is positively burning with disgust, "I'm the head of the Mystic Falls volunteer branch of the Conservation Fund, I work with state to monitor the wildlife and the campaign to have the forests in Mystic Falls declared a national park so that it increases tourism but protects it from development."

Caroline's jaw dropped in shock, "I didn't know that." She confessed and Sophie shrugged,

"Of course you didn't, because the only time you or your friends notice me is when you're calling me Slutty Sophie," she smirks coldly at her,

"Even though, if we're going by numbers alone, you've had _way_ more sex than me…how is Klaus Mikaelson by the way?"

Caroline clears her throat and shifts her weight, "What happened next?"

Sophie takes a deep breath, "When I got there, they got me drunk and when I tried to leave, they got handsy…they didn't manage to rape me, but that was only because…."

She breaks off and shivers, "I…it's not even the right season, there was no way that it should have been there."

The way she utters those words has chills running down Caroline's spine, "What was there?"

"A wolf," Sophie whispers, "And not like any wolf I've seen before…it was massive and its eyes…" she shudders,

"I've already started asking around, seeing if there's been any similar sightings, of a two-hundred-pound wolf with bright yellow eyes." She gives a giggle of shock and disbelief, "I shouldn't even be alive right now, there is no way that wolf should have gone after those guys and not hunted me as well, but when I ran…I think he must have been trained or something…because he chased me out of the forest and then turned back, even though he was soaked in blood and normally when a wolf is hunting like that, they don't spare easy targets but he let me go and I took my car and drove straight home. I was afraid to tell anyone because I was worried that they wouldn't believe me and well…"

"You were worried that people like me would call you a slut," Caroline finished for her,

"Sophie, even though I used to be a terrible person- and I'm still not perfect- I would never victim-shame."

Sophie tilts her pretty head and considers her, "I actually believe you,"

She clears her throat and stands up, "I didn't do it until like, a week later, but I made a profile of the wolf…" she shrugs,

"I don't know if that would help but if you promise not to hand the information over to the Sherriff's department, I'll send it to you via facebook?"

Caroline smiles, "Yeah, that would be helpful, but why don't you want my mom to know?"

Sophie shrugs, "Whatever's wrong with this wolf, the people it's killing are in its territory, male wolves are territorial creatures and honestly…I don't want the creature who saved me from being gang-raped to have a bounty placed on its head. Especially when the people hunting it would litter the forest with beer cans and set up dangerous traps."

Caroline waited until all her cheerleaders had left before trudging out to the football field and climbing the bleachers, she sits down with a sigh, leans back on her hands and tilts her head to stare up at the violet sky, the cool breeze on her face and whispering through her hair.

Klaus joins her only seconds later, his footsteps heavy on the wooden boards, "Alright, sweetheart?"

"I am a terrible person." She groans and he settles down beside her, turning sideways to face her,

"You aren't," he counters, "You just judge yourself more harshly than you do others."

"No," she disagrees, "That's where you're wrong. Did you know that Sophie is like an environmental _genius_? She cares about conversation and is a volunteer leader of a conservation group that includes people like twice her age and actual trained professionals? And the only thing I knew about her was her nickname 'Slutty Sophie'."

"I'm an artist who worked alongside Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci, Degas and even Salvador Dali to name a few," Klaus argued mildly, "I hate pears, and once called General Lee a worthless sack of dung to his face. However, you didn't know that about me, not because you're a terrible person love, but because I made no effort to tell you and it wasn't your obligation to learn that. If Sophie wanted everyone to know her for the intelligent, capable woman that she is, she would make the effort to teach them."

Caroline accepts his words before breaking out into a smile, " _Seriously?!_ Who hates pears?!"

He makes a disgusted face, "It's a ridiculous fruit," he grumbles, "Either it's too hard and you might as well be eating an apple or too soft and you're eating watery mush."

"All this time, we've been coming after you with the white oak stake when we could have just thrown some pear tarts at you." She laughs, shifting over and leaning her weight against his chest, closing her eyes as he wraps an arm around her shoulders, "We're still looking for a werewolf," she informs him quietly, "But a male one."

He rests his chin on her head, "So we aren't quite back to square one but we're only a few feet away from it." He surmises,

"Yeah."

They fall into a comfortable silence then. Enjoying the last warmth of the day, neither of them aware that they're being watched.

* * *

A/N- Let me know what you think.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N- Updates are slow I'm afraid, but I'm an MA student who has an intensive course load that doesn't always leave me with the energy and time to update as frequently as I would like. Also, most of my stories are detail heavy (except for Royal Decisions because that's my lazy, whack a keyboard and publish fic) so it takes me time to write the chapters and check that it doesn't go against my canon. I'm sorry for those who are disappointed, I am doing my best.

* * *

"Seriously?!" Caroline gasped as she stomped into the police station, " _Today?!_ "

Liz looks up from her consultation at the deputy's desk and fixes her daughter with a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry sweetie, this shouldn't take too long."

Too long?

Liz had been saying that to Caroline for years and she knew that her mom's perception of time management was the worst.

"I have been planning this sexual awareness event for weeks!" Caroline moaned, "And the DJ already tried to play Blurred Lines…who knows what the idiot will do if I'm not there to keep him in line…can't I just be questioned tomorrow?"

"If we're rescheduling interrogations, I'd like to suggest that I also have my appointment moved," a voice from behind her, heavy with sarcasm,

"Preferably to _never_."

Caroline swallows and tries not to give herself away as Klaus appears at her side, his hands behind his back, casting her the merest glance before turning back to the Sheriff,

"All those in favour, say aye."

The look her mom gives him is positively poisonous, "You can either speak to the FBI agents in my office or from behind bars wearing vervain soaked handcuffs," she says, her voice dripping with sweet malice, "Your call."

Klaus' lips quirk up in amusement and he chuckles, "I can see where Caroline gets her fire from," he turns to her,

"After you, sweetheart."

He's wearing a grey t-shirt that brings out his blue eyes and blonde hair, he looks so hot that she wants to reach out and touch him and has to settle for clearing her throat and grabbing at her clutch instead.

She's so distracted that she nearly rounds the corner into her mom's office before swearing and grabbing Klaus, flashing them down the hall to the holding cell,

"We forgot to come up with a story." She hisses frantically and he smirks,

"We could tell them the truth?" he jokes and she glares, "This isn't funny,"

"I know, sweetheart." he chuckles, unable to handle the infuriated look on her face,

"Then...stop...laughing." She orders and he forcefully regains control of himself, his eyes still sparkling,

"Okay…" she puts her hands together and brings her fingers to her lips,

"So, we can't tell them that we were hunting werewolves, we can't tell them that we were investigating the crime because that would draw attention to my mom…"

"I think we're making this needlessly complicated sweetheart," Klaus suggests, leaning against the bars, "After all, why not go with the most common reason people go to frat parties?"

She frowns as she tries to figure out his train of thought,

" _Seriously?!_ You want to tell the cops that we went there to have sex?"

He shrugs, "Why not? Your mother is the sheriff and I- theoretically at least- have a house full of siblings, add in the fact that you'd only just broken up with your last boyfriend, we can easily play the Romeo and Juliet card, star-crossed lovers being kept apart by the disapproving families, looking for a place to passionately entwine"

She raises an eyebrow and snorts, "Okay, I'm going to go with 'The parking lot was too busy and I refuse to have sex anywhere that doesn't have a bed'."

He grins, "That works too."

Calmer now, she nods and spins on her heel, only to find herself pressed up against the bars of the holding cell, looking into Klaus' bright blue eyes,

"We can't," she blurts out before his hands are even gripping the bars either side of her head,

"I'm serious! My mom is going to come looking for us any second now."

His grin has a hint of predator and she's quivering with excitement as he presses himself against her, arousal pooling delightfully between her thighs as their breath mingles and every part of them becomes electric with sexual tension,

"Soon," he whispers and she gasps, "Very soon, Caroline Forbes, you're going to be naked in my bed, your pretty little mouth moaning my name and weeping as I bring you to the heights of pleasure and make you feel things that you've never felt before."

She licks her lips, smiling when his eyes flicker down to watch her and she brings up her hand to stroke the stubble on his jaw, enjoying the rough feel against her skin as he closes his eyes and leans into her touch.

Someone clears their throat and, startled, their heads both shoot up, looking down the corridor to where her mom is standing with a man in a cheap suit,

"Caroline…" Liz snaps, "This is Agent Landis, here to question you."

"Right," Caroline straightened up and tucked her hair behind her ear, "Sorry…I was just uh…"

It was pretty obvious what she and Klaus had just been doing but she smiles brightly,

"Your office, right?"

She doesn't use supernatural speed but she does clear out of the area as quickly as she possibly can without it, the tall agent following after her awkwardly.

Leaving Klaus standing there being stared down by the sheriff.

He puts his hands behind his back, "Lovely day isn't it?"

His nonchalance clearly doesn't go down well with the woman and he wishes that the fates wouldn't keep conspiring to paint her the absolute worst picture of him. Then again, why should he have to explain himself or go to any effort for this human? She'd be dead by the end of the century regardless, probably even by the end of the decade considering the mortality rate of Mystic Falls, did her opinion of him truly matter?

He supposed that for Caroline it did.

"What the hell were you doing with my daughter?" she demanded, crossing her arms and he shrugs,

"It was Caroline's idea," he lies smoothly, "In lieu of the truth we decided to tell the agent that Caroline and I are secretly together and that night at Whitmore, were simply looking for some comfort and privacy. She thought it would be more believable if the agent caught us in a delicate situation."

His voice is casual, uncaring as he begins to walk away but she stops him in his tracks with a glare,

"Is that all?" she interrogates and his interest piques,

"What are you implying, Sheriff?"

He wants to hear her say it, he wants her to accuse him of seducing her daughter, to destroy any chance of subterfuge and throw the affair into the open.

He grows tired of having to sneak around for the benefit of Caroline's worthless little friends, who had even less chance of survival than her mother. It irritates him, he is the most powerful creature in the world, he shouldn't have to pander to the whimsies of this silly little town.

He should simply take what he wants and let them all be damned.

His eyes might not be betraying his thoughts but they're betraying something and whatever it is has the sheriff backing away, "Just don't hurt her."

What a cowardly non-answer.

* * *

Caroline had clearly been right when she'd told everyone in their group to join her for the clear-up crew, that they could meet and talk without fear of being overheard.

The second word had got around that it was time to clean, everybody had left as quickly as possible.

"Should we be impressed or concerned by the lack of condoms on the ground?" Elena joked as she and Bonnie grabbed their plastic bags,

"We should be grateful that none of them are used."

" _Hayley!_ "

Both girls jump as Caroline's voice carries across the oval,

"Seriously?! Those condoms are for safe sex not for making balloons!"

Tyler's wolf friend has a semi-guilty look on her face and drops the pink condom she'd being blowing up, "I was just testing the durability." She gamely lies as it lands on the grass and pops, Matt laughs and helps her clean it up.

Elena hadn't really got to know Hayley yet, she just knew that she was some werewolf girl Tyler had met up in the mountains and had followed him back to town. The girl was pretty in an unusual sort of way and seemed pretty close to Tyler, which had Elena thinking that she could be the reason that Caroline had broken up with him.

Then again, if she was, why would Caroline invite her to stay and clean up with them? Especially when they were going to be talking about the murders right after?

She stops to think this over, squealing in surprise when two arms wrap around her from behind,

"Careful," Stefan hums in her ear, "Don't want Caroline to see you not-working."

She giggles as he kisses her neck, "And you don't want Caroline to see you distracting me," she points out,

"I'm human but she knows you'll heal."

He makes a terrified face and she laughs, kissing his lips and then stepping away as Damon comes over,

"I must say, I'm shocked," he drawls, "What kind of teens go to an event with the word sex in it and don't leave a single beer can or used condom behind?"

His eyes flare at her when he says the words 'used condom' and she blushes before rolling her eyes, "Clearly teens with better morals than you, _Damon_."

She loves speaking his name, it falls so easily off her lips and tastes sweet on her tongue.

"Come on, guys!" Caroline complains, "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can talk!"

Some days, Elena was so glad she'd dropped off the cheer squad and all the numerous committees that Caroline chaired. Sure, it ate into her social life but it also reduced the amount of time she was being bossed around by her best friend.

She points at Damon, "Less dirty thoughts, more picking up dirty things…shut up," she adds when he smirks,

"Stefan," she turns to her boyfriend and sees that his face is sterner than before,

"Help me and Bonnie pack up the stand?"

He swallows but nods, "Sure, come on."

It only took an hour for the eight of them to get the field clean, especially with Caroline commanding them, keeping them moving at a quick pace, she didn't even stop when they were sitting in the bleachers and she was telling them everything she and Klaus had found out,

"Sophie gave me a description, but of course that won't be much use until the full moon but considering that a werewolf couldn't be hanging around town or hiding without someone having figured it out by now, Klaus and Elijah are going to be checking out the bars on the highway, and the nearby towns, see if either of them can pick up a werewolf scent." She finishes, clapping her hands in the same way she did whenever she finished giving a cheer pep-talk.

"So," Damon drawls and Elena can picture him standing in his parlour with a bourbon in hand, "What you're saying is that we're looking for a male werewolf and you still don't think it's Klaus?!" he scoffs and Elena finds herself thinking that he might be right.

"Come on, blondie, even you aren't _that_ stupid."

Caroline closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "Damon, if it was Klaus, why would he be pretending to help me investigate?"

He holds up his hands, "Gee, I don't know, maybe because he's obsessed with you and wants to get in your pants?"

"Isn't Klaus a complete psycho though?" Hayley speaks up, "Would he have spared the girl?"

"She's right," Bonnie points out, "Klaus wouldn't have let Sophie live if he'd been hunting her, he probably would have killed her for sport and the people that have been killed? They've all been criminals, since when does Klaus hunt for righteous reasons?"

"He doesn't," Stefan agrees with her, "And he also doesn't draw deliberately draw the attention of law enforcement to himself or his family, not if he plans to stay in town. Plus," he adds when Damon opens his mouth to argue, "It still wouldn't explain the attack at Whitmore, whomever is doing is after Klaus."

"Wait," Tyler said, "If they're after Klaus, then why are we after them? We should be working with them, helping them, the enemy of our enemy and all that!"

Matt is sitting next to Bonnie, his arms resting on his knees, "They aren't just after Klaus though," he argues with his best friend,

"Ty, they're killing people and they hurt a lot of people at Whitmore."

"And what's to say they won't hurt us to get through to Klaus?" Caroline offers in support of Matt,

"They won't hurt _us_ ," Damon points to himself and to the rest of the group, excluding her,

"Because we wouldn't stand between anyone wanting to have a go at Klaus, but you Blondie? Would you be terrified of poor Klausy getting a boo-boo?"

Elena felt bad for Caroline, Damon was really being mean today and she opens her mouth to tell him to stop before her best friend turns on him,

"Considering that if Klaus dies, we die with him, yeah Damon, I would."

Her hair is flying about her shoulders, her eyes are intense and her cheeks are pink, she still looks human but Elena is worried that she's about to let the vampire out and then the argument will turn physical. Damon could hurt her.

"What if you wouldn't die?" Bonnie asks suddenly, catching everyone's attention,

"What?" Caroline blurts out, "What are you talking about?!"

Bonnie spreads her legs out in front of her and puts her hands on her knees, "If I go to Salem, if I can speak to my cousin Lucy, if I can find a spell or a way to unlink Klaus from his sire-lines, you'd all be safe…"

"And then we could kill Klaus!" Tyler interrupts eagerly, his eyes blood-thirsty, " _Finally!_ "

Caroline is staring at Bonnie as if she doesn't recognise her and Elena frowns,

"Care?" she prompts, not wanting to make this decision without the support of the entire group,

"It's too risky," Caroline shakes her head, "Bonnie…"

"How about we hear from someone who isn't crushing on the hybrid," Damon talks over her, "Witchy, I will personally drive you to Salem tomorrow."

Elena shook her head, "Not tomorrow Damon, we have school, it'll have to be next weekend."

"Seriously?!" Caroline shrieks, "We're doing this again?! How many times do you honestly think we can go up against Klaus before he decides to kill us all?"

Damon's lip curls, "Just stick to your task as Klaus bait, blondie, we'll figure out the rest."

Caroline's hurt expression tugs at Elena's heart before her face hardens and she disappears, flashing away so quickly that Elena can't figure out where she went.

Stefan sighs, "I'll go after her." he offers.

Tyler doesn't even move, he just glares at where Caroline had been standing before turning to Damon, they begin talking about logistics, including Bonnie in the conversation and Elena sighs, looking down at her phone, "Hey, Matt, can you drive me home?"

He nods, "Sure, come on."

Elena chews on her lip as she follows her ex-boyfriend to his truck, waiting until they had climbed in and she was holding her seatbelt before drawing up the courage to ask him,

"What do you think is going on with Caroline?"

Matt exhales and leans back in his seat as he thinks it over,

"I'm not sure," he admits, "But…I think all the time she's spending with Klaus is having an effect on her."

That was bad.

"You think she's beginning to see him as a person?" she worries, "Or forget all the bad stuff he's done?"

Matt shrugs, "I don't know."

He opens his mouth but closes it again and starts the engine, leaving Elena to fall silent as she mulls everything over.

She wasn't an idiot, she had seen the way Klaus looked at Caroline and how he flirted with her, but she had thought that Caroline was smarter than to fall for it. Her friend had grown so much since becoming a vampire, she wasn't the same girl who fell into bed with every guy who gave her the time of day anymore…

But what if she actually felt something for him?

That would be so _bad_.

* * *

Klaus was pleasantly buzzed when he got home shortly after midnight, of course it had been annoying that the bar had closed early, but he supposed that a clientele of three was hardly a reason to keep the lights on. Especially on a Sunday night, still, he'd had some drinks with his brother, lost him to a somewhat pretty brunette and ruled out only two bars on a list of at least twenty. He and Elijah would have a long week of drinking and rabblerousing ahead of them while trying to hunt down one lone werewolf.

Such a shame.

He chuckles to himself as he staggers in the door but immediately sobers up when he hears the sound.

Breathing.

 _Intruder_.

There's a growl building from his chest to his throat at the thought of someone invading his territory, his home and he flashes into the sitting room, following the sound, ready to tear them to shreds and only stopping himself just in time.

Her blonde hair is spilt across the black seat, her legs curled and her head pillowed on her arm, she looks like a statue of a resting maiden.

Caroline Forbes.

Asleep in his home.

His soft smile is idiotic and he allows himself to get carried away, to carefully lower himself beside her, to remove his jacket and place it over her sleeping form, but not gently enough because she wakes up,

"Klaus?"

Her voice is filled with exhaustion and he feels guilt for having disturbed her slumber,

"Sorry sweetheart," he whispers, "Go back to sleep."

She grumbles but uses her elbow to push herself into a sitting position, "How did you and your brother..." she breaks off with a yawn and he smirks,

"Not successfully I'm afraid, but we'll keep up the search with all our effort."

She rolls her eyes and scoffs and he chuckles, reaching over to put an arm about her shoulders, worried when she tenses but she doesn't shake him off, instead she moves closer and rests her head against him.

He plays with a strand of her golden hair, noting the softness and enjoying the intimacy of the moment, when all the sexual tension was brushed aside in favour of tenderness,

"Your mother suspects us," he murmurs and she stills, "I tried to lead her off the scent but I don't think I convinced her."

She sighs, "I'll talk to her, convince her that we aren't secretly hooking up behind her back."

He rather been hoping that she would take the other route but he doesn't want to argue. Not during this moment between them. Her beauty had been what first attracted him to Caroline, her fire had been next and the chemistry between them had been undeniable. Yet, as he'd encountered her again and again, as he'd transitioned from merely letting her live to actively saving her life, what he'd felt had become more than sexual desire. He cared for Caroline, he cherished her light and wanted more than her body, he not only wanted her naked in his arms but to bare her heart, mind and soul to him, to give him every piece of her for him to discover and examine to his own heart's content.

Her voice distracts him from his musings,

"I have to tell you something." she murmurs, sneaking a glance up at him through lowered lashes, he caresses her shoulder,

"Yes, sweetheart?"

Her scent changes, a trace of anxiety, "I…my friends still think you're the one behind the killings."

He clicks his tongue in annoyance, "Your friends aren't always the smartest bunch," he says dismissively,

"Personally, I'm always pleasantly surprised when they say something even moderately intelligent."

The anxiety in her scent doesn't disperse but her body relaxes against his touch, within a quarter hour she's asleep again with her head on the couch but her hand resting on his thigh and he sits there in the darkness with the hint of a smile on his face.

* * *

A/N- There we go, please let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N- Here we go. Also, I'm releasing a new story as well called Best Friends.

* * *

"And that is why there is _no way_ I am letting you walk into that place without me."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and wished for the umpteenth time that she'd begged Caroline to come to Salem with her, that way, she would be in her car singing along to the radio instead of Damon's car listening to him and Elena argue about him escorting her and Bonnie into the Bennett homestead.

"But…Damon," her best friend sighed, "The witches hate you! The spirits always mess with your daylight ring when they can…"

Bonnie blocks them both out and distracts herself by messaging her cousin Lucy, letting her know that they were only about five minutes out. She's barely even dropped the phone back to her lap when the reply comes through,

 _To Bonnie:_

 _'Call when you arrive, and tell Damon to be careful, we've got a lot of anti-vampire wards up at the moment'_

Bonnie frowns at her screen but relays the warning, prompting a fresh wave of bickering between her best friend and the guy who was clearly in love with her and she promises herself that she's never going anywhere without Caroline again.

The Bennett homestead was a nineteen-fifties ranch house that had been built up over the years as needed, making it a jumble of old and new, modern and antique and Bonnie loved every inch of it.

The letterbox was covered in finger paints and ribbons and out of habit, Bonnie smacked it for luck as she walked past, breathing in deep and reveling in the fresh air with just the hint of magic that carried over from the earth and the scent of herbal tea that wafted down from the kitchen.

Lucy is making her way down the grassy knoll towards them, holding up a hand in greeting and in warning,

"Don't come any further Damon."

Bonnie looks over her shoulder to see Damon standing at the access road, glaring at her cousin and flexing his fingers as Elena hovered at his side.

"What happened?" she asks as Lucy approaches and hugs her in greeting, "This place isn't usually so...secured."

Lucy sighs and when she pulls back, Bonnie sees that she's wearing a white funeral dress,

"Did Grams ever tell you about the Gemini coven?" she asks and Bonnie shakes her head,

"Who are they?"

"They were one of the most powerful covens on the east coast," Lucy explains, "Now, they're completely wiped out, save for two kids your age."

Bonnie's eyebrows shoot up, "A _vampire_ did that?"

Lucy shakes her head, "Not a vampire, a _hybrid_."

 _Klaus._

Leaving Elena and Damon outside, Bonnie follows her cousin up into the kitchen where her aunts and various family members were standing around the island with two strangers she'd never seen before.

Both were curly-haired blondes with blue eyes and jumped slightly when the door behind her banged closed,

"Luke, Liv," Lucy nodded, "This is Bonnie."

They're both pale and their eyes are bloodshot, probably from grief and she instinctively wants to hug them but she's still just a stranger.

Perhaps she should invite Elena inside, she'd know what to say to them, she had grieving down to an art form these days.

Instead, she gets down to business, "I need to know how to perform an un-linking spell," she explains to her relatives as she's handed a cup of tea,

"If I can un-link Klaus to his sire line then my friends and I will be able to take him out."

That gets everyone's interest.

"You mean like… _kill_ him?" Luke said, pushing himself upright, "Once and for all?"

She nods, "We've got close before, we killed his older brother Finn and we can kill him but I can't do it without breaking the sire line, otherwise my friends will die too."

Liv snorts, "If your friends are vampires then they _deserve_ to die."

" _Hey!_ " Bonnie snaps at her but decides to let it go, after all, she'd lost everything because of Klaus.

"Finish your tea," Lucy interjects before a confrontation can get under way, "And then get Damon to fill that cup with his blood, we'll need a member of Klaus' line to un-link them."

She nods and tilts her head back, gulping down the herbal concoction, tasting lemon balm, passionflower and chamomile. She looks out the window to see Damon is still standing by the letterbox, his fists clenched and glaring up at her and she smirks, "This might take a minute."

She's halfway out the door before she hears Luke behind her, "I'll uh…I'll come with."

He clears his throat once they're a fair distance from the house, "I'm sorry about my sister," he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly,

"She's on edge, we both are…"

"I'm sorry about your family," Bonnie tells him, "I've seen what Klaus can do, it's horrifying."

He nods and sniffs deeply, "Worst thing was, we weren't even there. Dad had just told us that he and the coven had come up with some way to stop the Original hybrid, we went drinking with friends, stayed up to see the blue moon and when we came back…everything was…blood and bone."

Bonnie skittered to a stop, holding out her hands so she didn't lose her balance on the knoll,

"The blue moon?" she echoes, frowning in confusion.

"That was _months_ ago!"

Luke nods, "Yeah…uh four months ago."

Something cold tingles in her spine, her senses on alert, "Then why did you _just_ arrive in Salem?"

He rubs his eyes, "We would have come sooner but uh…we had to…we had to bury everyone and that took time, plus the police investigation and…"

Bonnie understands, she remembered sitting at Elena's bedside when Sheriff Forbes had questioned her about the car crash, she knew that Caroline's mom had been as gentle as possible and streamlined a lot of the paperwork for her, but she could only imagine the trouble involved for an entire coven to have been murdered.

They reach Damon who curls his lip in disgust when Bonnie explains what she needs from him.

"If you think I'm just handing over my blood and crossing my fingers that this isn't a trick then you have another thing coming!"

Normally Damon speaking about her family as if they're all completely untrustworthy would piss her off but this time, she feels somewhat detached from the situation, as if she were viewing it from outside instead of taking part in it. She thinks that hearing Luke recall what he'd gone through, seeing the suffering on his face, has her in shock or maybe just seeing things from another perspective.

"What if we invite you in?" she offers, "So you can see the ceremony?"

Damon begrudgingly nods and an hour later- because as it turns out, Bonnie was shouted down when she tried to suggest allowing him into the house- the witches are set up in the backyard, lighting candles in a large circle while Damon bleeds into a cup and Elena crouches on the back porch, her hands hidden in her sleeves, looking like a documentarian about to whisper an account of everything taking place to a camera crew dressed in camouflage with leaves taped to their hats.

Bonnie crosses her arms and stands beside Damon as he reluctantly hands his blood over to her cousin, refusing to release his grip and flashing his eyes at her in warning,

"Can you please just play nice for another hour?" Bonnie sighs, "Then we can go home."

"Just crossing my fingers and hoping this works," he repeats sullenly and she resists the urge to give him a brain aneurysm.

Well…maybe a small one…

She's distracted when her family and the two Gemini survivors link hands to form the circle, Bonnie is too close to the vampires so she can't be a part of it but she watches avidly as they throw their heads back, chanting Latin as their eyes go pure white and a fierce wind rips through the clearing, the flames on the candles shooting higher and higher until…

* * *

Miles and miles away. Klaus chokes and splutters, his bourbon spraying across the table as he fights for air,

" _Really_ , Niklaus…" Elijah hummed in disgust as he drew his handkerchief from his pocket and shook it out with a flourish,

"So uncivilized."

Still coughing, Klaus takes the handkerchief and wipes his mouth, eyeing the bar of worn wood, termites and men too worn down by life to be anything more than ghosts.

"Just drank too quickly is all."

* * *

"You should come back here this summer," Lucy suggests as she walks Bonnie back to the car, her arms laden down with teas and foodstuffs for her to take home,

"I know we haven't really taught you our ways properly but we should and we will, this summer."

Bonnie tries not to betray how eager she is, "Sure," she shrugs, trying to be casual,

"I mean, if your mom says it's okay then I'd love to."

She climbs into the backseat of the car and waves goodbye to her cousin, waiting until they're on the highway before leaning forward into the front seat,

"What's wrong?" she asks her best friend who jumps guiltily, "Ummm…please don't be mad, but I may have made a recording of the spell…"

Bonnie frowns and turns to Damon, "You _told_ her to?"

He smirks, "Of course, you honestly think I'm not going to get a second and third opinion? I'm sending that to Katherine for confirmation."

" _Katherine_?" Bonnie quirks an eyebrow, "Because she's so trustworthy?!"

He shrugs, "About as trustworthy as a vampire at a blood bank but when it comes to surviving Klaus' death? I'm willing to bet she'll be the most helpful person we know."

Bonnie flops into the backseat, "Whatever."

* * *

"You know," Klaus mumbles as he follows his big brother out of the bar,

"I'm beginning to miss being sober…being able to see straight, smelling something other than old liquor and urine."

Elijah exhales loudly, "Perhaps then, you should imbibe some water between your drinks?"

He snickers as he staggers to their car and leans heavily against the passenger side door,

"Think that blood'll ever come out of your shirt?" he asks teasingly,

Poor Elijah was several thousand dollars overdressed for the kind of bars they were hitting up and the clear disdain he wore on his face didn't help to warm the fellow patrons to him, so when he tried ordering something non-alcoholic, one of them typically slurred an insult pertaining to his sexual orientation. His brother then found himself in a situation where re-education was in order, usually with his fists, unfortunately, this time, he'd somehow got blood on his crisp white shirt.

"Get in the car, little brother," Elijah snapped, "Unless you'd rather walk home?"

He struggles to get his laughter in check as he sinks into the passenger seat and buckles his seatbelt,

"I've heard club soda does wonders…" he teases, shouting in surprise when Elijah swings the wheel and the car does a quick one eighty, gravel and dust spitting in their wake and his head whacks against the window, "Sorry," Elijah feigns ignorance, "What was that? I didn't hear you."

Klaus scowls and sulkily sinks into the seat, "Nothing."

"That's what I thought."

* * *

He's barely over the threshold of his house when his phone buzzes and he doesn't even have to look down to know who is calling him,

"I'm afraid that I'm once again going to have to report my failures to you, my sweet Caroline."

"How drunk are you right now?" she demands, her annoyance filtering through the phone line and he shrugs, holding up his hand and waving it in front of his face to check,

"Perhaps more than I realized…" he answers truthfully, "Although my tolerance seems to have weakened…"

Another long suffering sigh and he's about to point out the similarities between her and his brother before he realizes that the sound was coming from inside the house. Frowning now, he looks about in confusion and Elijah pulls the phone out of his hand and offers him a glass of warm, freshly-squeezed blood,

"Drink this," he orders,

"Miss Forbes," he speaks into the phone, "Once again I must apologize for my brother, although this time at least his crime is novel, apparently he is momentarily unable to hold his liquor like a gentleman but I assure you that I am not a drunkard and I am able to report that we have once again been unsuccessful, there hasn't been any werewolf scent or tracks anywhere to be found…yes, I'm aware that tonight is the full moon…yes I am certain that Niklaus will wish to try and track the creature through the forest…oh yes, I am quite certain that he shall be sober in time…thank-you, have a pleasant day."

Klaus stuck his tongue out as Elijah ended the call, "Have I ever told you what a killjoy you are, brother?"

Elijah didn't deign to answer but instead only checked his watch,

"I'm going to check on your newly returned hybrids, ensure that they will know to behave themselves tonight whilst you sober up and plan how you're going to locate the killer werewolf, do please finish your meal."

"Yes, father." Klaus says sarcastically as Elijah walks out the front door, muttering darkly into his glass when he hears his brother's smirk of amusement.

* * *

When Caroline's friends had begun brainstorming their latest plan to take out Klaus, she had been worried but not panicked, after all, the success hinged on several things. Bonnie's relatives agreeing to help her, the right spell being found, the right ingredients for the spell, the spell being able to be cast.

Heck, Caroline had figured she'd have a month minimum before Bonnie even heard back from her family in Salem, she hadn't realized that the Bennett's could apparently pull an un-linking spell right out of their grimoire.

And if they could, then why hadn't they done it before?

But they had and still, Caroline was hopeful that she had time, after all, her friends couldn't just storm into Klaus' house and attack him in broad daylight.

He'd have half of them disemboweled before they could even blink.

Except that tonight, Klaus was going to be wandering around the forest in search of the werewolf, completely alone and far enough away from the town that no innocent civilians would be caught in the crossfire.

As a last ditch attempt, Caroline had pointed out that they'd need a weapon capable of taking him down, they had lost all their white oak after Mikael's death.

Except that Caroline had forgotten about Mr. Samson, the nice elderly man who lived near Wickery Bridge and whom had gathered some of the scrap wood left over from the rebuilding to fashion into statues. Stefan had refashioned a bald eagle into four new stakes earlier that day.

And then her argument had been interrupted by strong hands on her head and her world going black.

When she woke up, the world was dim and the ground under her hard and grainy. Rubbing her neck, she pushed herself up onto her elbow and looked around, cursing when she saw where she was.

The prison cell in the Salvatore basement.

She was going to _kill_ Damon.

She staggered to the door and gripped onto the bars at the window, yanking them with all her strength, even as she knew that they wouldn't give way.

And there was nothing in the cell that could be used to break down a door either.

Damon hadn't even thrown in her handbag…

Hope surged through Caroline as she jumped back from the door and her hands flew to her breasts, her phone was still in her bra!

She'd called Klaus, spoken to Elijah and then arrived at the mansion and stuck her phone in her bra without thinking.

Of course, Damon hadn't thought to search her clothes, especially because Elena had been there, and it would have upset her.

Her phone had been on silent and when she unlocks the screen she sees that she has four missed calls from an unknown number, all in the last hour, and she barely even has time to check her reception before the call comes through again.

Cautiously, Caroline answers and holds the phone to her ear,

"Hello?"

She hears the roar of an engine and the blaring of horns, " _Caroline!_ " Elena gasps, " _About damn time, why the hell is nobody answering their phones?_ "

She frowns in confusion, "Excuse me?! How the hell would I know since your boyfriend's brother snapped my neck and threw me in the damn cell and Elena, when I get out of here…"

" _Wrong doppelganger,_ " she interrupts, " _This is the non-idiotic one._ "

"Katherine," Caroline acknowledged, "Why are you calling me?"

Katherine curses and she figures that the vampire had to be driving- probably way over the speed limit, judging from the noise of the engine- and talking on a car phone,

" _Because I'm calling everyone, why the hell is nobody answering their phones?_ "

Why the hell was she sounding so panicked?

"They're out in the forest," Caroline admits, "Trying to take out Klaus."

" _They can't,_ " Katherine cries, " _Listen, do you know where they are_ exactly?"

She shakes her head before remembering that Katherine wouldn't be able to see her,

"Why can't they? Bonnie's family did an un-linking spell…"

" _I had that spell double-checked,_ " Katherine explains, " _Turns out, it wasn't tailored to Klaus, just to un-linking of a sire from their descendants, so there's a chance that when they broke the line, it was for the last creatures he created which wasn't vampires but…_ "

"Hybrids," Caroline finished as comprehension sunk in, "Oh my God."

" _Exactly,_ " Katherine surmised, " _I'm still an hour away, I'm going to keep trying to contact everyone but Caroline, you'll have to find them and stop them._ "

"I can't," she cried, "I'm in the prison cell and the door was retrofitted so that a vampire couldn't break out!"

" _It's okay,_ " Katherine's voice almost sounds soothing, " _Go to the end of the cell, in the left corner and you'll see a brick, two down from the top, it's jutting out slightly…_ "

Caroline followed her instructions and ran her hand up the wall, having to stretch up to feel the brick and pull it out, she turned it over and saw that it had been hollowed out, frowning, she reached up in the new space and felt her hand touch something hard, she drew it out and nearly dropped the object in shock,

"Katherine," she barked her name in anger, "Why does it look like you planted an explosive in the prison cell?"

" _Because I planted an explosive in the prison cell,_ " Katherine said, matter-of-fact, " _It's C-4, so attach it to the door, preferably in the same position as the lock, there's a detonator attached to it and the cord should be sticking out visibly…_ "

"Just so you know," Caroline grouses as she gingerly presses the explosive to the door,

"I really, really hate you right now."

" _So, you want to move quickly now, you need to click your fingers using vampire speed on the edge of the cord so that it catches alight and then as far away from the door as possible._ "

Groaning with reluctance, Caroline practiced snapping her fingers really fast three times before figuring that she was as ready as she would ever be. Resting the cord on her ring finger, she swiped her thumb across her hand so quickly that she could barely track the movement, and the cord ignited.

She speeds across the room and covers her ears, crouching over as the flame climbs up the cord into the C-4 and…

Nothing happens.

"Fu-"

The explosion rocks Caroline off her feet and the rest of her curse is swallowed by the loud bang,

"What the hell?!" she murmurs or shouts, she's not entirely sure because her hearing may have been damaged by the blast.

And her phone screen is cracked and she's lost Katherine.

Well, no time to call her back.

She flashes upstairs and finds her handbag in the parlor, sitting innocuously on the leather couch, her car keys still inside and she grips them thankfully, flashing out to her car and nearly breaking the key as she jams it into the ignition.

She grips the wheel, her knee bouncing as she tries to figure out what to do.

She had to find her friends and stop them.

Her friends would be hunting Klaus, if she found him first she could lure him away and he'd never have to know that there was another attempt on his life.

Where would he be?

The attacks had all been in a general area, which was unfortunately several acres wide, but if she headed there…maybe she'd get lucky…

For the first time since vampires had come to town.

* * *

Klaus had left his car parked on the side of the road, a few miles down from the camp site, and Damon's Camaro was close by as well. Caroline pulled over and barely killed the engine before racing into the forest. She figured that Klaus must have headed back to the spot where the last attack was, to scout the area.

The full moon provided the only light in the dark forest, the ground is wet and she kicks up clods of earth as she runs, looking frantically for a marker or something to let her know that she was headed in the right direction.

After all, her life probably depended on it.

And the lives of everyone she loved.

A shout of pain.

She hears a shout of pain to her right and part of her brain recognizes the voice.

Tyler.

She follows the sound, tripping over roots and scratching her palm on a tree but she sees Stefan's familiar head of hair and sobs in relief as she reaches him,

"Oh thank God!" she gasps, taking his shoulder, "Stefan…the spell won't…"

Stefan collapses under the weight of her hand on him, falling to the ground and she shrieks, thinking that she's somehow killed him when she sees the foreign object protruding out of his forehead.

A chunk of wood.

She looks about frantically and sees Damon standing to the side, scowling furiously as he shelters Bonnie, he jerks his head and she follows his gaze to where Klaus is standing with his back against a tree, holding Tyler in front of him like a shield, with his hand…

His hand is in Tyler's back, probably clutching his heart.

Okay this was _bad_.

Although, not bad enough that Tyler was unable to speak, because she heard his rasping voice as he choked on his own blood.

"See...Even now, she's worried about her friends, not _you_."

Klaus snarls at him to stay quiet if he wants to live and she can see, even from a distance that his eyes are glowing golden and his fangs are bared.

His blood is up and his predator is just skimming the surface, ready to break through and start slaughtering indiscriminately.

But she doesn't stay back, she edges forward cautiously,

"Are you okay?" she asks carefully, "Did they hurt you?"

He sneers, "They tried, and failed spectacularly, as always."

She gasps and runs her eyes over him, looking for injuries even though they would have probably healed by now,

"Okay, listen, just let Tyler go and we can talk, I'll explain everything but first…"

Tyler manages a strangled laugh, "See?"

"Shut up, Ty," Caroline shouts at him, turning back to Klaus and inching closer,

" _Please._ "

His eyes narrow at her, showing suspicion and distrust, but also the faintest glimmer of hope.

But from the shadows comes a snarl, hot breath visible in the night and they stare in horror as a giant white wolf emerges into the clearing, its eyes bright yellow and its teeth bared. It turns its face to each of them, one by one, visibly selecting them as its prey.

" _No._ "

Klaus is staring at the creature in shock, his eyes losing their golden glow and his fangs receding, the wolf sniffs the air and growls at him.

Tyler is dropped to the ground and scrambles on his hands and knees over to Damon and Bonnie while the wolf leans back, getting ready to jump.

"Run."

The word is whispered but they all immediately scatter and the wolf gives chase. Caroline follows Klaus, her heart racing as she hears the creature behind her, its paws pounding against the earth and panting as it gains ground. She trips and falls to her knees and Klaus skids to a stop a few feet ahead, turning to see her and racing back to pull her to her feet,

"Don't stop." He orders, pushing her hard enough to send her flying through the air and she grabs a thick tree branch to stop herself from landing on her back. He gives a shout of pain and she sees that the wolf has sunk its teeth into his leg, he kicks him away and the creature yelps as it lands heavily on its foreleg.

"Come on." Caroline urges him and waits until he's by her side before moving again, rushing along the same route she'd taken earlier and sobbing with relief when they break out of the forest and see their cars only a mile up ahead.

"Did we lose it?" she asks cautiously, spinning around to face Klaus,

"Is your leg okay?"

His jeans are torn away on his left leg and he looks down at the dried blood on his skin,

"He _attacked_ me." he murmurs in disbelief, and Caroline reaches down to take his hand,

"We have to go," she tells him, "We have to get as far away from that thing as possible."

Her fingers have barely touched his skin when he reels back,

"Don't touch me," he spits at her, "Ever _again_!"

There's so much loathing and pain in his voice that she recoils, " _What?!_ "

He marches right up to her, invading her personal space until his face is barely an inch from hers,

"Some advice sweetheart, the next time you're used as bait by your friends, either play the prude or the slut, don't go halfway because it was just odd enough that I was suspicious long before your dear Tyler bragged about once again trotting you out like the tramp he so clearly thinks you are."

Spittle lands on her face and she instinctively flinches away from him, "Klaus…I…"

"Do yourself a favor sweetheart, stay the hell away from me, I'm going to be in a bit of a mood and I'd hate to once again waste my venom on someone as useless as you."

 _Useless_.

The word is like a stake through her heart.

"I'm not…" she gasps, but he's already walking away from her, "Klaus!"

He flashed ahead to his car and she tries to reach the passenger side door but he reverses too quickly and she only just pulls her foot back in time to stop it getting run over.

His engine roars as he drives away from the town and leaves her standing on the side of the road.

He left her there.

* * *

She takes a shuddering breath and chokes, wiping at her eyes as she shuffles towards her car.

Her head is spinning, she can't make sense of anything except that Klaus was alive and the werewolf had tried to kill them. She sinks into the driver's seat and presses her forehead against the steering wheel, struggling to catch up with her body in its survival mode.

A howl rips through the night and she shakes with terror.

Whatever else had happened, she couldn't stay there.

She starts her car and speeds down the road, waiting until she sees the lights of the town in the distance before tapping on her break to slow down to regular speed.

Except nothing happens.

She taps harder and then presses her boot firmly down on the pedal.

Still nothing, she's only gaining speed.

Confused and concerned, she looks down at her dashboard and never sees the concrete block in the middle of the road. She only feels the collision and then the sense of the world spinning around her, around and around, over and over, metal screaming, heavy thunks and silence.

And darkness.

* * *

A/N- Sorry


	10. Chapter 10

A/N- Here we go!

* * *

Not possible.

That was the phrase running on endless loop through Klaus' brain as he left his car parked, if not in the driveway, at least in the general vicinity of his house.

Not ' _impossible_ ' because after centuries and centuries, he knew that to use such a term was to dare fate into turning impossibilities into realities.

Therefore, he settles for the phrase 'Not possible', hoping that such an act on his behalf would appease the cruel fates.

Not possible.

It was _not possible_.

But even as he begun uttering the words aloud, his treacherous brain was confirming everything that he had seen that night and providing him with confirmation in the form of half-forgotten legends and little tidbits of information from the dark recesses of his memory.

The wolf that had attacked them had been male, large and with astonishingly white fur.

Throughout all known history of werewolves, there had been only one wolf with fur as pure white as freshly fallen snow.

Myths said that he had once been a golden furred creature, but his blood lust, his skill as a warrior had seen him cursed by a witch from an enemy tribe. His fur had been turned white so that he would be unable to hide in the forest, visible even in the very depths of night.

Even then, his enemies hadn't been able to kill him.

Every dawn, he had awoken covered in their blood…until one dawn.

When he had been slaughtered not by a man, but by another beast.

A vampire.

Mikael.

Even with his new powers, Mikael had been afraid to fight the white wolf on the full moon, so he had waited until a lunar eclipse, when the wolves would be at their weakest and wiped out the entire village, driving the leader onto a stake and leaving him to die in agony.

His revenge against the man for his infidelity with Esther.

It had been the sight of his blood father dead on the stake, his hair covering his face and wide eyes that had driven Klaus to massacre their own village and kill his mother in retaliation.

And that had been the last time he'd thought of his father.

Until tonight.

When he had _attacked_ him in the forest.

Attacked him and meant to kill him.

Which, if nothing else, solved the crime of the murders that had been taking place over the last few months.

The wolves of old had been territorial beasts, the alphas claiming the land and keeping the law as they saw fit.

Why should the passing of nearly a millennia have the white wolf acting differently on his own land?

Thinking of those murders brought to mind Caroline.

Another 'Not Possible'

It was not possible that he had been stupid enough to fall for the same act again.

But he had.

She had been playing him.

A longer game than she had done previously and a more intense game but a game all the same.

And she had done it so well, those lingering smiles, her eyes lighting up when she saw him, the perfect composition of tenderness mixed with desire when they touched.

She had done it so well that he'd actually believed her.

How could he have been so _foolish_?

With a roar of frustration- and perhaps unacknowledged hurt- he picks up and throws the first thing he comes into contact with, an antique coffee table, it flies across the room and shatters when it hits the marble fireplace, splinters flying everywhere and it does nothing to appease his tortured soul.

But the responding moan does distract him.

Following the sound, he finds a foot dangling off the same couch he'd once cradled Caroline as she slept, but this isn't Caroline's foot.

And considering the uncouth way in which the shoe is scratching the leather, he almost doesn't believe that Elijah could still be in possession of his foot.

But he is.

When Niklaus rounds the couch, he sees his brother spread out over it, his clothes drenched in blood and sweat, his eyes open but unseeing, his face pink with fever.

He's muttering under his breath and Niklaus crouches beside his big brother, picking up on the German and realizing that he was hallucinating.

Thinking himself back in Vienna, at a café with his old friend.

"Shush," he strokes Elijah's hair back from his face, "I'm here, brother.

He hears something crinkle and spots a piece of white paper in his brother's suit pocket, carefully he pulls it out and sees that it's a note.

 _'He was attacked and bitten by your hybrids, most of whom are now dead'_

No name attached and Niklaus frowns at this before deciding that perhaps his brother will hold the answer.

Not in his current state though.

He bites into his wrist and holds the wound above his brother's mouth, letting the blood dribble in and deliberately not reacting when his brother reared up and grabbed his arm, forcing it against his lips as he drank greedily.

He breaks away gasping, falling back against the couch as the poison is wiped from his body, deep breaths until the air fills his lungs and the pain has receded.

Only then does he open his eyes.

"Little brother," he moans, rubbing a hand across his forehead,

"Thank-you ever so much for your kindness in having proffered me your blood."

The sarcasm is so thick that Klaus can't help but take immediate offence,

"Should I have left you to wait it out?" he suggests coldly, "Nothing like an Original being driven to violence by the happy voices in his head."

Elijah has the grace to look ashamed at that pointed remark, but only for a moment.

"Perhaps you could explain to me why your hybrids attacked me in the first place?" he responds,

"I was barely through the door before they began jumping on me, I'm afraid you now have less hybrids than you did this morning."

It's on the tip of his tongue to ask which of his hybrids Elijah had killed, to ask for their names before remembering that his brother didn't know any of his hybrids from a bar of soap.

He hadn't known why Klaus had been so eager to create them and he hadn't ever bothered to care. He'd never tried to understand why his own half-brother had gone to such lengths to turn the werewolves, had assumed it was his megalomaniac tendencies.

He'd never paused to consider how terrifyingly, achingly lonely it was to be the only one of your kind. To be the first and last, staggering in the darkness, with experiences and sensations unique to you alone.

To have no-one who could ever truly understand you.

"Yes," he clears his throat, "Well, I would commiserate but I myself had an unpleasant evening, to be specific our Mystic Falls brethren decided to make another attempt at ending my life."

That barely warranted a glance from Elijah, "If nothing else, you have to admire them for their perseverance."

"They had a white oak stake."

His brother tenses and his eyes run over him, as if to search for a wound, or perhaps to try and determine whether he is actually there and not a figment of imagination caused by the werewolf venom.

When he is either satisfied or has decided to follow the hallucination through to the end for entertainment, he pushes himself up into a standing position with a groan,

"Very well," he sighs, "Do tell me your plan for retribution."

Actually…

Klaus currently didn't have one, which was unusual for him, the Original who could be planning a violent revenge before a traitor or fool had even finished their idiotic treachery but between the revelation that Caroline had once again been playing him and that his father was alive, he hadn't really had time to plan anything.

He claps his brother on the shoulder, "First, why don't we go have a little chat with whichever of my hybrids remain living hmmm? Figure out why exactly they suddenly went rogue on me?"

Thankfully, Elijah doesn't pick up on his subterfuge, instead only requesting five minutes to change and he resists the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that it will be five minutes to the second when his brother comes down the marble staircase, showered, groomed and impeccably dressed in a new suit.

He would wash the attack away with the blood and grime, sending it down the drain and emerge anew.

Klaus would never be able to achieve such a feat and hates his brother for it.

"Here."

He hands him the now crumpled note, "I found this in your suit, it appears you have a guardian angel."

He's pretty certain he knows who would go to such trouble to see Elijah to safety but not wait around to speak to him and his suspicions are confirmed when his brother glances at the paper and clearly recognizes the handwriting, paling considerably.

"Yes," he clears his throat, "Well…perhaps they'll come forward so I might thank them properly."

Klaus buries his smirk and clasps his hands behind his back and widens his eyes with an innocence he hasn't had since the night he strangled Esther.

"Perhaps."

For that matter, perhaps Katherine Pierce would have some idea as to why his hybrids had decided to revolt?

* * *

It takes very little time to find four of the remaining six hybrids.

One is lying in the middle of the town square with a bullet through his head and the other three are in the closed Grill, feasting alternately on Matt Donovan and the liquor supply.

Klaus clears his throat as he enters and sees that if they're no longer sired to him, at the very least they still fear him.

Matthew is choking on his own blood and pain, bent over backwards by the hands gripping his hair but still sensible enough to open an eye to watch Klaus as he approaches,

"I've had a rather irritating experience this evening," he offers by way of greeting, "And finding out that my creatures decided to attack my brother did not improve my mood all that much."

He stops just out of arms reach, noting that Timothy has a tight enough grip on Matthew's head that a sharp yank would kill the poor boy.

And Klaus would probably be blamed.

"So," he shrugs and looks every one of them in the eye, "Who would care to explain to me exactly _what_ the _bloody hell_ is going on?"

He doesn't have any immediate volunteers but eventually Hank speaks up,

"We're free of you!" he boasts, raising a bottle of cheap bourbon to salute that statement,

"We don't have to follow your orders or do nothing you say no more."

Behind him, Elijah bristles and he can almost hear his brother bemoaning the grammatical errors in that declaration,

" _How_ exactly?" he demands, moving closer and when Timothy yanks Matthew's head back a little harder, Klaus shoots him a warning glare,

"How?" he repeats and his tone is fair warning that he shan't ask a third time.

Timothy shrugs, "Don't know," he admits, "It happened this afternoon, one minute we were sired to you and then…we weren't."

Well that was about as bloody helpful as a blood drained corpse.

"Anything else?" he snaps, "Did one of you deliberately try to break the sire bond? Did you meditate? Bury your wish at a crossroad at midnight? Did one of you make a deal with a witch?"

He trails off at the last word.

A witch.

He only knew of one stupid enough to get between him and his desires.

One who would have been looking for a way to unlink him from his creatures.

Not his hybrids but she was woefully untrained despite her sheer power.

"Brother," he spins on his heel, "Your vengeance awaits."

Elijah grinned and flashed forward, ripping out the hearts of the two hybrids who held Matthew, the beleaguered bus boy dropping to the ground with a rather alarming smack of his head against the hardwood floor. Klaus walks away slowly as his brother finishes devouring those he had hoped to make his family.

But he had failed.

Again.

There's a gasp, followed by a cough and he steps out into the night only to nearly collide with a blonde woman.

Her hair is so much shorter than Caroline's and her build completely different, but Klaus instinctively catches her, mistaking her momentarily for her daughter.

She doesn't recognize him at first either, but when she does, her eyes narrow and spit fire in their hatred,

"Your…things," She growls, "One of them killed an innocent bystander."

 _And?_

Klaus shrugs, "Sorry, Sheriff, they aren't my creatures anymore, but perhaps you could speak to Ms. Bennett about that? Or those who pull her strings, the Salvatore brothers?"

She has a look on her face that he's seen many a time on her daughter's, she's about to tell him- quite graphically- exactly what he can do with that suggestion, but before she had the chance, the radio at her hip begins emitting strange sounds and she hurries off to check on that.

Matthew, wisely fleeing the scene of Elijah's crime before his brother decides that he's in need of dinner, joins him on the pavement, his hand pressed to the back of his neck,

"I'd get that checked if I were you," Klaus suggests without even looking at him, keeping his gaze firmly on the horizon of the dark night.

"I would so hate for my sister to return only to find you confined to a wheelchair."

The poor human pales at the thought but doesn't immediately flee, choosing unwisely to linger in his presence.

"I don't know what happened tonight," he begins, "But if you hurt Bonnie, Caroline'll never forgive you."

Klaus' hand curls into a fist and he wants to put it through the boy's heart just to prove a point. But he's surrounded by idiots and would have to explain this point verbally to properly make it and that would take so much effort.

"I don't give a damn what that harlot thinks," he replies cavalierly, "Though I would like a full explanation from Ms. Bennett about that spell she used. Have her come by early tomorrow, unless you'd like me to seek her out?"

"Don't call Caroline that!"

The words fall almost automatically from Matthew's lips as he rises in defense for his friend, but Klaus turns to him with a click of his heels,

"No?" he challenges, "What label is appropriate for a woman willing to give her body to a man as means of distraction so that her friends can plan his murder? A woman who would go to bed with this man and feign willingness? I can think of a few words but I doubt you would approve of them either."

The boy's hand curls into a fist, and every bone would shatter upon contact with the Original Hybrid's face but he's obviously not even considering that as he rises to the defense of his friend.

A woman whom, only a few hours ago, would have driven Klaus to similar actions.

Elijah leaves the bar, moving with feigned casualness as he ends up stepping between them, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket with a flourish he begins wiping his hands clean of the blood,

"The night is beautiful," he comments, looking up at the full moon, "Even if the activities taking place underneath it have been less than pleasant."

He doesn't respond but Matthew shakes his head in disgust,

"Whatever man," he sneers, as he begins to walk away, "You aren't worth it."

His heart would be warm and light in his hand, the blood cascading over his skin and he starts forward, intending to kill the boy when Elijah shifts his weight ever so slightly, protecting the retreating back, "We shall leave him alive for the moment," His brother whispers,

"A later death might suit us better."

His brother so rarely interferes in his slayings, so Niklaus will give him this one life.

For Elijah.

Not for Caroline.

She was _nothing_ to him now.

* * *

Stefan tried his best to sit still.

He had to appear calm and collected otherwise there could be panic.

It was something he'd learnt during his time as an ambulance driver in Egypt.

If you let your patients see your panic, they would think they were fatally wounded and then, a simple small cut could start bleeding horrifically and before you knew it, this barely injured man was dead on your watch.

So he kept his body still and his face placid.

But it wasn't easy.

Damon was pacing between the wet bar and the fire place like one or the other might hold the answer they needed on how they were going to survive the night.

They'd had a plan.

A plan to kill Klaus, come back to the boarding house and release an angry Caroline.

The plan had failed _spectacularly_.

They had planned to surprise Klaus but when Stefan had met him in the forest, the hybrid hadn't been surprised to see him there, but he hadn't been suspicious either.

He'd assumed that Stefan was there to try and help him track the werewolf that had been committing the murders, or to get an update. He'd been crouched down over a spoor and thinking aloud and Stefan had felt his heart tear.

He'd loved Klaus once.

Like a brother he'd proclaimed back in the twenties, now though, he understood himself and his heart a little better.

He'd been supposed to lure Klaus to a set point but that was where the plan had gone wrong.

Tyler had crashed through the underbrush with murder in his eyes, 'Planning the victory lap before the starting gun had even been fired' was how Damon had put it. When Klaus had realized that he was in an ambush, his eyes had darted between Tyler and Stefan before he'd come to the clear decision.

He'd spared Stefan and grabbed Tyler, using him as a human shield, grabbing a hold of his heart even as the rest of them raced to the scene.

Even then, the situation could have been diffused except that Tyler had begun talking.

Bragging really.

About Caroline.

About how everything she'd done had been to trick Klaus, about how she loathed him and she wanted him dead, had begged them to kill him for her.

None of which had been true or had helped the situation.

Damon had thrown a stake- not the white oak but another one- at Klaus, but he'd caught it and sent it flying towards Stefan.

It had gone straight through his head and by the time he'd woken up, everyone was long gone.

He'd made his way back down to where they'd parked the cars and found his there at least, with his keys still in his pocket and had tried calling his brother, his girlfriend, his friends.

None of them had picked up and unable to think of what else to do, he'd headed back to the Boarding house, which had taken twice as long because he'd been stuck behind a very slow moving truck that was either carrying a prisoner or nuclear waste, judging from the warning signs on the back and the unmarked car escorting it.

When he'd finally got home he'd noticed three things.

One, Elena was safe and sound.

Two, she was sitting on the couch pressed up against his brother.

Three, Caroline had somehow managed to escape the basement cell using what appeared to be explosives.

He doesn't really have time to focus on any of these things before Matt comes staggering up behind him, covered in blood and injured, panting about how the hybrids had gone feral and attacked him and killed three people.

To make an already bad situation worse.

"We should warn Caroline," Elena says, grabbing her phone, "Because if they're out…"

"They're dead," Matt interrupts her, "Klaus' older brother killed the ones in the Grill and Caroline's mom got another one."

"We should find Caroline," Bonnie suggests, already putting the phone to her ear,

"After tonight, Klaus will be looking for revenge."

Damon sneers, "And thanks to Tyler, blondie will be at the top of his list. Way to sign your own girlfriend's death warrant buddy!"

Tyler had been skulking by the window but snaps at that comment, "Screw you!"

"No," Stefan interjects, "He's right. What the hell were you thinking tonight? I get you hate Klaus, we all do, but the things you said about Caroline? What is wrong with you?!"

Tyler glares at them all, "I don't have to explain myself to any of you."

He sounds so much like his asshole father that Stefan wants to punch him out of principle. He stomps past them to leave but Matt steps in his path, blocking him and daring him to throw a punch,

"When I spoke to Klaus tonight he called Caroline a slut," he begins, "Did you have anything to do with that?"

Tyler answers 'No' at the exact time Damon smirks 'Yes'.

"Quarterback, you should have heard the things Wolfie was saying, 'She can't stand you, she despises you, she wishes you were dead'" Damon grimaced,

" _I_ almost felt bad for the guy."

Bonnie clears her throat, "Why did you say those things Ty?"

Tyler is still glaring at them but reminds him less of a spoiled brat and more of a cornered animal,

"None of your damn business!" he snarls but Matt doesn't move out of his way,

"Man, I swear, if you've put Care in danger…"

"Caroline put herself in danger when she started sleeping with Klaus!"

Tyler had shouted but even if he hadn't, they couldn't have missed his statement.

Elena and Bonnie screech ' _What_ ' in unison and at such a high pitch that the vampires and werewolves wince, but their shock galvanizes Tyler.

"She must have started after she broke up with me," he begins, speaking as if he were testifying in court, "Adam told me that he saw her hanging with a blonde guy on the bleachers and Sophie told me that she and Klaus had been acting suspicious at the football game."

"Wait," Bonnie says when he falls silent, "That's it?! Tyler, I hang out on the bleachers with Stefan all the time and he and I sneak off 'suspiciously', we all do, because we're supernaturals who don't want to get caught by the town."

There's a flash of something in Elena's eyes and the darker part of Stefan feels a tiny stab of pleasure at the thought that she might get jealous from now on.

"We're not denying that Caroline is attracted to Klaus," Elena assures him, "Because, yeah, we think she is, but there's a huge difference between being attracted to someone and acting on it."

No.

No there isn't.

Not really.

Tyler is still pouting, clearly not believing them, "Why would Klaus have been so pissed if I was wrong?" he asks and this time none of them can answer.

Not because they agree with him, but because Sheriff Forbes storms into the house before they have a chance.

"Where the _hell_ is my daughter?!"

* * *

Flashing images. Jarring sounds. Paralyzed limbs. Unable to run. Unable to fight. Unable to breathe.

She screams.

* * *

A/N- Hope everyone enjoyed!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N- This would have been out sooner except that word goddamn crashed on me and I lost a significant portion of this and recovery wasn't an option for some terrible reason.

* * *

After the disastrous events of the full moon, Klaus had considered it not only his goal but his right to drink as much of the liquor supply in his house as he was able to before the alcohol poisoning rendered him blind, at which point, he'd used what was left of his other senses to stagger up the stairs and collapse into bed.

Not his bed.

Caroline had been there.

 _Twice._

First time she'd been clothed, second time she'd had only his pillow to cover her glorious body and that had quickly been done away with.

She'd straddled him, stripped him naked and teased him with a delightful show of eroticism that had ended with her bringing him to pieces and leaving him tied to the bed as she'd sashayed out the door.

How many times had he jerked himself off remembering that little display?

Too many to count with this much alcohol in his system.

He's pretty sure he ends up in Elijah's bed.

Or at least he's collapsed into a bed and he's somewhat sure that man next to him is his older brother.

Or one of his brothers.

Or a lookalike.

Or he's really too sodding drunk to care.

He had planned to be unconscious for a luxurious amount of time. Preferably a day or so, while his enemies panicked as they tried to figure out his retribution.

Unfortunately, he doesn't even clock in a solid eight hours before freezing cold water hits his face.

He sits up spluttering and choking as a piece of ice slides up his nose and he shakes his head firmly to dislodge it.

When he blinks the water out of his eyes, he sees Elijah standing at his bedside, dressed immaculately and his lips pursed in disapproval,

"Good morning, little brother." He speaks in clipped tones and Klaus is left wondering if he accidentally stepped on his brother's prized Stradivarius when he stumbled in last night.

"Sod off." he groans and tries to roll over only to hear the ominous shattering of ice in his brother's hand.

Bloody hell.

Did he kill Katerina Petrova last night?

He can't have… _could_ _he_?

"I'm afraid that isn't an option," Elijah voice was overly formal but lacking in the hot fury that he usually displayed when Klaus made some really dodgy decisions designed to piss him off,

"You see, we have a guest downstairs whom wishes to speak with you, and I gave him my word that I would bring you down."

The light is almost as unwelcome as his brother's presence and the alcohol isn't entirely out of his system yet, but he'd been aiming to imbibe enough liquor to sedate Ireland so he's not surprised.

Guest.

Male.

Stefan?

Nope.

Blonde boy little sister was shagging?

"Who is it?" he asks, surrendering as he rubs a hand over his face and contemplates the possibility of sitting up in the near future.

"Your birth father,"

If Elijah had been able, he would have been spitting venom with those words. Clearly he was pissed off to the nth degree.

"His name is Ansel I believe? He wishes to speak to you about the events of last night?"

Klaus groans again, "Bloody hell."

Just what he needed.

"I must say, while my response was not quite so vulgar, I was somewhat surprised to be discovering your birth father's presence on this side via the man himself and not you."

Oh of course. He was the one whose birth father had come back from the dead after nine hundred bloody years but leave it to Elijah to be offended that he hadn't been informed immediately.

What he wouldn't give to have one of the daggers in his hand right now.

His eyes begin to flutter closed and melted ice is tossed down his shirt. Elijah clearly isn't going to leave the matter alone.

"Fine," he growls, "I'm up, I'll talk to him? _Happy?!_ "

Two minutely raised eyebrows are all the answer he needs for that question.

Bloody hell.

No wonder Petrova would rather shag the emotionally abusive Stefan Salvatore than his uptight arse of a…

The remaining ice is hurled at the back of his neck with enough force to alert Klaus to the fact that he'd spoken aloud.

Ansel is standing in the kitchen that's been so rarely used that everything is still pristine white and some of the stickers are still attached to the appliances.

He looks utterly out of place, this ancient werewolf alpha who should have been in a forest with wattle daub huts and in homespun clothes.

Instead, he's wearing plaid and jeans and his hair has been cut short, not professionally, even with his still weak vision, Niklaus can see that the man had clearly used a knife and probably lopped off his hair in batches until it was above the neckline.

He is staring at the tea in the eighteenth century Meissen porcelain tea bowl with gold handles that look fragile to the touch.

This man had never handled anything so delicate in his life and had obviously decided that today was not going to be the day that he started.

It was a sign of how surprised Elijah had been by his appearance that his brother had even thought to hand a nine-hundred-year old werewolf a piece from the half-set that was worth half a million pounds and irreplaceable.

Niklaus is pretty sure that they would have regular tea cups.

Somewhere.

Ansel looks up when he enters and sniffs twice quickly, a furrow appearing in his brow before he deliberately smooths his complexion,

"My son…"

He speaks and suddenly, Niklaus wants to be anywhere but here in this kitchen.

He wants to skitter backwards, but Elijah is behind him and he won't show his weakness.

He mustn't let this man know that he's weak, that he's capable of being hurt.

Ansel is looking at him with an expression that he can't determine, the man shifts his weight as if he is going to take a step forward but then changes his mind and remains on the other side of the white island,

"I wish to explain my actions last night…" he begins, speaking slowly and testing every word, his voice is heavy with the accent long since lost to the world and Niklaus wonders when he managed to learn English anyway.

"When you _attacked_ me?" he bites off, "How about you start with how the _hell_ you're even here in the first place?!"

Ansel blinks but nods slowly, and the way he's holding his hands and flexing his fingers suggest that he hasn't had opposable thumbs in a long while.

"It was shortly after you brea…broke the curse," he pauses and thinks, "Yes, you _broke_ the curse and then, there were many witches on the Other Side who were not happy, they speak- spoke- of finding a means to kill you, once and for all, for the balance of Nature."

Niklaus ponders his words, while the first mistake had seemed like a confusion of tenses, the second one seemed as though these unhappy witches had had their opinions forcibly changed.

Ansel gives a small smirk, "I stopped many of these witches, but some communicated with their children's children, they thought that I could be used, that as your father and your alpha, that I would have the ability to kill you. They brought me back to life and bound my spirit, forcing my will."

All in the name of the greater good, he was sure.

Ansel's eyes harden and Niklaus' shoulders tense while Elijah takes a step forward, his hands reaching out to grab his little brother and move him behind his body, to shield him in a manner that had become instinctual long before they had become vampires.

"They kept me underground, they chained me to a wall and told me what I was going to do, they treated me less than a beast. But they were fools,"

Again, Ansel's use of past tense wasn't likely to be accidental.

"I had learnt a great deal about witchcraft from your mother, enough to guess how I could break the spell binding me to their will."

Elijah clears his throat delicately, "I assume these fools are now deceased?"

Ansel's grin is one Niklaus himself has worn many a time, which is strange considering he had never seen it on the man.

"I spared the young because they were ignorant, but when the coven allowed me to kill and trigger my change…" he trails off but his audience of two can easily guess what a werewolf would have done to his captors.

"When was this?" Niklaus asked, trying to get a timeline straight in his head, he'd broken the curse back in April and it was now the tail end of September.

He hadn't heard of any covens being wiped out by werewolves but there wasn't a great deal of love between witches and vampires, so it could often take a year or more before the gossip made its way across the bridge of life and death.

And he realizes that he'd just asked a nine-hundred-year old man who'd been imprisoned and likely tortured to give him a rough estimate of a date on a calendar that he would never have used but Ansel tries to place it anyway.

"There was a blue moon that night, it made it hard to change, I was weaker than I had ever been."

"June 5th." Elijah murmurs as if Niklaus hadn't remembered extremely bloody well when that damn blue moon had come.

He hadn't dared change that night and had spent the week anticipating an attack from his enemies. Fortunately, they hadn't been smart enough to go after him at his weak point.

"That was months ago," he points out, "And you've spent the entire time in the forest? Running wild and killing anyone who strays across your path?"

The suspicion is evident in his voice but Ansel doesn't get defensive and somehow that angers him more.

"I was safest in my wolf form," he explains, "The spirits had no control over me, they could not curse me and could not force me to attack you, I was able to watch over you and protect you."

 _Protect_ _him?_

Where had that protection been nine hundred years ago when his ribs had been kicked in so many times by Mikael that Ayana had taught Kol how to mend his broken bones so she would no longer be expending all her energy on that one spell.

He opens his mouth but Elijah interrupts, "Protect Niklaus from _what_ exactly?"

Ansel gives a slight tilt of his head, like a wolf in thought, "From the men trying to capture him."

There had been men trying to capture him?

Since when?!

"I have not been alone," Ansel continues, "There is a man who can vouch for my story, he knows our tales, he found me in the forest and guessed who I was, he brought me clothes and my bow and arrow…"

"It was you that shot me in the stomach?!" Niklaus interrupts, remembering the night at the football game and Ansel shows very little remorse when he nods,

"They had put poison in the air, they were carrying those metal weapons and following you and the girl, I needed to give you cause to flee, I was not aiming for you, but for the she-wolf, but she ducked."

The she-wolf?

"Hayley," he clarifies, "The woman standing beside Caroline?"

So she had seen a gun after all.

Ansel nods, "It was good of her to protect the girl but she is a Crescent wolf, and our enemy."

Hayley was a Crescent wolf?

He remembers that pack from New Orleans, during the prohibition, he'd been rather close with…well, he supposed she was probably Hayley's great-grandmother.

Elijah pulls his phone from his jacket pocket, "May I have the name of the man?" he inquires politely without speaking his father's name, "So that we might meet with him and get a clearer understanding of this threat?"

"Atticus Shane," Ansel rattles off dutifully, "He knows of you and your family."

Elijah enters the name and does an internet search, "Whitmore college, Professor of Anthropology with a focus on witchcraft and mythology."

He steps out of the room to take the call and in his absence, there is an awkward tension between the two men.

"Last night," Ansel begins, "When I…Niklaus do not turn away from me,"

His voice is harsh and having turned his back to him, Niklaus expects to feel a blow across his shoulders, perhaps the tea bowl, perhaps a fist but Ansel merely resumes speaking,

"Let me explain," he entreats in a soft voice, "I mean you no harm, but last night, during the full moon, when I was walking our lands and came across you, I did not recognize you, for some reason I could not find the wolf in your scent and I still cannot recognize you…I know you are my son but why do you smell so strange?"

Curious and a hint of concern has Niklaus lifting his wrist to his nose and sniffing deeply, he smells of the same odor of blood, burnt flesh and the hint of desiccation that tells him he should feed soon that he's carried for nine hundred years, the same as every other vampire.

But Ansel is right.

He doesn't have the scent of earth and dirt that had been on his skin since he'd broken the curse in April.

And he raises his eyes, looks about the room and tries to really focus his eyes, his vision but he can't.

With horror, he flashes to the nearest bathroom and looks in the mirror, dropping his fangs and letting the blood flow into his eyes.

His two fangs instead of four and his red eyes instead of gold.

A howl of anguish tears through him.

Bonnie had severed him from his werewolf nature.

She had bound him back in vampire form.

Elijah and Ansel reach the bathroom at the same time and nearly become jammed in the door as they both aim to console him,

"We can kill the witch," Ansel suggests, "Or her coven one-by-one until she undoes the spell."

Elijah looks askance at this but takes Niklaus by the shoulders, looking at him through the mirror,

"Atticus Shane is on his way over," he explains quietly, "He says that he wishes to speak to all of us and perhaps he can even provide us with a spell to…"

"We already know the spell," Klaus growls, "Only this time, I will drain the doppelganger to death and neither you nor the Salvatore brothers will save her."

* * *

Elizabeth Forbes was having the day from hell.

Actually, to be more specific, she was having the night and day from hell.

Not only had she been attacked by a hybrid last night, one that had killed Amy Fell practically in front of her but then she had received a panicked call from Deputy Poole, calling her out to Plantation road to find an all too familiar car wrecked beyond repair.

Her daughter's car.

Terror freezes her heart then, as it would any parent, it nearly overwhelms her and she isn't quite sure how she manages to examine the scene without throwing up.

Perhaps because in the next second she remembers that her baby is a vampire, and unless something penetrated her heart, she could walk away from car crashes easily.

Except that when she sees the road, her internal alarm starts blaring a warning.

Because there's no skid marks on the asphalt.

Nothing to indicate that her daughter had swerved to avoid a collision or stepped down on the break as people instinctively did when they were about to crash.

What there was, was scraps of rubber.

But more than there should have been.

Enough to suggest that all four of Caroline's tires had blown.

Which wasn't very likely to have occurred naturally. Especially when there was no evidence of nails or glass on the road.

The windshield was cracked in several places but three of the windows were intact. The passenger side window had been smashed, but too much of the glass was on the seat.

The seat where the fabric had been torn in four parallel lines.

And the driver's seatbelt had been cut.

Caroline had been driving, late at night, somehow her car had crashed, had rolled and by sheer luck ended right side up. But then, someone- human or supernatural- had smashed out the passenger side window and dragged her from the car, carrying her off into the night.

Liz hopes that this was just an opportunistic human who'd carried off a beautiful young woman and that when her baby woke up, she had compelled or killed them.

Maybe that's where she was now? Burying a body or getting rid of the evidence.

And Liz knows that is a horrific thing to hope for, but with all the supernatural monsters out there, the alternative could be _so much worse_.

Which is one of the reasons Liz has a tracking device on her daughter's cellphone. Which gives her location as the Salvatore Boarding House, so she storms over there and interrogates her daughter's friends.

They don't know where Caroline is, but when she demands to know what the hell is going on, they explain the situation to her.

When Elena has finished confessing, Liz is so sickened that she can only bring herself to manage a few sentences,

"You're telling me, that for the last _several months_ , you have been making my daughter flirt... romance Klaus Mikaelson to bait him and risk her life, in exchange for your own survival?"

They're too shamefaced to meet her eyes and she turns to Tyler, the boy who was supposed to love her baby girl, who was supposed to take care of her,

"Your days pimping my daughter out are _done_ ," she tells him,

"If you ever set foot in my house again, I will make you _wish_ it was Klaus Mikaelson killing you."

She had stormed out of the Boarding House and gone to Mikaelson Manor in a last ditch attempt where she had found liquor bottles strewn or smashed on the ground floor and the older- oldest? – Mikaelson brother, Elijah, cleaning up with a disapproving expression sketched on his handsome face.

He had assured her that Caroline was not there, nor did Klaus have anything to do with her disappearance, as far as he was aware, the Original hybrid had written her out of his life the previous evening and wanted nothing more to do with her.

Liz finds herself remembering the way the monster and her daughter had looked at each other the night after the football game and can't decide whether this adjudication would be a blessing or a curse for her daughter.

With no other options, she had spent the last several hours at her desk in the police station, on the phone with various agencies, calling in favors to try and locate her baby girl.

Even though she knows in her heart that these agencies don't stand a chance of finding her.

Her phone rings and she snatches it up eagerly, "Caroline?"

"No," a male voice answers, "But we know where she is, and she's in trouble."

* * *

 _Blinding light._

 _Pain._

 _Darkness._

 _Blinding light._

 _Pain._

 _Darkness._

* * *

She keeps drifting in and out of consciousness, feeling a stab of irritation every time she almost gets her eyes open just to have her world fade to black as she sinks into oblivion again.

So when she does finally wake up, the weirdest sensation of being satisfied and relieved runs through her before reality sets in at the realization that she's lying on a cold, hard, cement floor.

Groaning either from pain or frustration, because how many times has this happened to her now? She rolls over onto her side, takes two deep breaths and then pushes herself into a sitting position.

She takes in her immediate surroundings.

She's in a _cell_.

Not like one she's ever seen before.

It's easily the size of her bedroom and there are security cameras in every corner, blinking to show that they're operational.

And she's not just being watched by whoever's on the other end of that feed

She's not alone.

"Welcome to the world, gorgeous," a droll voice calls from the cell next to her,

"I think you'll find that staying unconscious would have been the preferable choice."

She notes the British accent immediately, but it's different from the one she's used to.

"Where are we?" she asks, striding to the cell bars and gripping them only to jump backwards when an electric shock burns her hands. She checks them and sees that the burn doesn't immediately heal but instead the blisters and redness faded slowly.

"Well," he pauses, "If I were being dramatic, I would say hell, but to be slightly more precise, we're at Whitmore campus in the Augustine laboratory."

Caroline turns to look at him. He's a handsome man, neatly groomed and with eyes that didn't immediately scream 'Evil villain', and she would know.

Except his eyes were screaming something.

They were watching her very intently, raking over every inch of her repeatedly and she felt as though she were under a microscope being examined all the way down to her cells.

And it didn't help that he didn't seem the least bit creeped out that he was standing in a cell.

"My name is Enzo," he introduces himself, and gives her a friendly nod.

"Caroline," she manages a small smile and looks around, "So, why are we here?"

He shrugs, "I've been here since the beginning, but you I'm not quite sure, they didn't seem all that prepared when they brought you in here and they hadn't mentioned anything…that I heard anyway."

Caroline frowns and gives her head a little shake of confusion,

"Why would they say anything to _you_?" she looks around emphatically, "You're a prisoner here too, right?"

He gives her a rueful grin, "Right, but after a while…" he shrugs, "Sometimes they forget that I'm just an experiment and treat me like I'm a human, happens after they've been here a few years, they stop seeing the vampire and start seeing the person underneath."

A few _years?!_

Caroline's first thought is that she wouldn't be here that long. She had been kidnapped and her mom was the Sheriff and when her car was found people would be looking for her and Whitmore wasn't that far from Mystic Falls and Bonnie could do a locator spell and…

What the hell was going on?!

And why was this Enzo guy so _weird?!_

His eyes are still roaming over her and she realizes that he's not looking at her breasts or her skin, he's studying her clothes, her jewelry, her shoes.

He's looking at her clothes in the same way she would stare at a traditional costume of another country.

"Enzo," her voice trembles and she doesn't want to know the answer but she figures deep down that it is really important to find out.

"How long…how long have you been here?"

He frowns and pouts as he thinks,

"What year is it?" he inquires quietly and her hands shake as the blisters heal.

She tells him and he does the math, "Almost eighty years, it's a shame I missed the millennium, that must've been a hell of a party."

The casual way he speaks, as if eighty years was no time at all terrifies her.

Eighty years of the same cell, eighty years of being imprisoned, eighty years of…

He'd mentioned being an experiment.

Eighty years.

No.

 _No._

Klaus would come for her.

He was the most powerful creature in the world, he would find her and he would…

" _Do yourself a favor sweetheart, stay the hell away from me, I'm going to be in a bit of a mood and I'd hate to once again waste my venom on someone as useless as you."_

Nothing.

He would do _nothing._

She was as good as dead to him now.

And her friends.

They would think she'd betrayed them; would they even care that she was missing? Or would they prefer to let her stay gone?

If she was out of the way, she couldn't interfere with their plans.

Desperately, her mind turned to Katherine Pierce, after all, she'd helped her, maybe she would…

No.

She wasn't crucial to Katherine's survival, so the vampire might spare a moment of thought to wondering where she was, and maybe even try to locate her out of pure curiosity or to use the information as a bargaining chip, but she wouldn't come to save her.

She runs her fingers through her hair and tries not to sob.

Stupidly, her first thought was that she was going to miss prom.

She was going to miss her graduation.

The world would go on without her. The next batch of freshman would arrive at Whitmore in September, they would move into their dorms, join clubs, rush fraternities and sororities, go to classes, meet on the quad for lunches and study sessions, wear the college colors to the Friday night football games and live their lives happily while she was trapped underground, completely forgotten.

 _Eighty years!_

What if nobody ever came for her?

Tears fill her eyes and she finds herself struggling to breathe as panic crushes her.

Enzo doesn't speak, he doesn't offer any support or try to convince her that everything would be okay. Instead, he just waits until she regains control and can focus on her surroundings again.

She blinks and sees that she'd hunched over, brought her knees up to her chest and had been rocking back and forth, she clears her throat and, in a manner worthy of a small town belle, tried to pull herself together.

"I am sorry, gorgeous," he tells her, "But the sooner you get used to this place, the easier it'll be."

She sniffs and suddenly, his smile brightens,

"Don't suppose you could tell me if cricket ever took off here in the States?"

It's such an innocuous, out of the blue question that Caroline manages to laugh and is about to ask him what cricket even is before the hallway door opens and a man steps through the door.

And her laughter turns into a scream.

* * *

A/N- Man, if only my document hadn't crashed, this could have gone so much better.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N- Here we go. Sorry about the angst. It gets slightly better in this chapter...

Or am I lying? I was nominated for Best Angst Author in the Klaroline 2016 awards after all (along with Best Completed Fiction- Alpha Female).

And would love it if you guys voted for me.

Thanks for the love.

Sorry for this.

* * *

" _No._ "

Caroline shook her head firmly and backed away from the bars of her cell,

"No, you're not here, you _can't_ be here."

"Caroline," he spoke in a detached tone, "Please keep it together."

That statement had the opposite effect he'd intended.

"You're _dead!_ " she shrieked, her nails clawing the air, "You _drowned!_ I was there when they brought your body into the hospital. I was there when my mom ID it so that Jeremy and Elena wouldn't have to!"

Grayson Gilbert sighed and stepped closer to her cell and he doesn't immediately respond so she's given the chance to take another look at him.

The last time she'd seen Grayson Gilbert alive had been at the Grill, three days before the accident. He had been hurrying to work but still slowed down long enough to smile and say hello.

He'd had that glazed, disinterested look in his eye that Caroline often saw in adults who didn't really care about you, but she'd still been friendly, and wished him a nice day.

At the double funeral, she'd felt terrible for ever having bad thoughts about him and really disgusted with herself that one of her last thoughts about Dr Gilbert when he'd been alive was that he'd needed a haircut.

A haircut he had never gotten.

His hair was tied back in a ponytail now and looked horrible, but that was only the beginning. Grayson was pale, paler than anyone or anything she had ever seen before, with a grey tinge to his skin, his eyes were bloodshot the bags under them were large, swollen and brown. His shoulders were hunched and his fingers…the fingernails had been chewed off.

But the most important detail was the one she realized at the very end.

He hadn't taken a single breath since he'd entered the room.

"Oh my god," she murmured in dawning horror, "You're a vampire."

The word hits him like a physical blow and he flinches, "For the moment."

Huh?

Last Caroline had checked, vampirism wasn't something you could transition from, unless you transitioned into death.

But Enzo in the next cell answers her unspoken question,

"Grayson here is looking for a cure for his _what-did-you-call-it_ mate, ah yes…temporary inconvenience."

Enzo chuckles while Caroline can't find a single funny thing about this entire situation.

"When?" she demands, "Who turned you? And how?"

Grayson sighs again and she takes offence that her apparent confusion over her best friend's dead dad standing in front of her a vampire was so beneath him until she realizes that he looks exhausted.

As if he hadn't fed in a while.

He walks out and she calls his name uncertainly but he comes back in with a rusty old chair and sinks into it, closing his eyes in relief and Caroline feels her concern racket up a few notches.

Vampires rarely needed to sit down. When they did it was out of habit, because a social situation called for it, or in Klaus' case- to prove dominance by keeping everyone else in the room standing.

Grayson looked like he was sitting down because he couldn't bear to stand up any longer.

"Let me start at the beginning," he declares, like a politician at a podium.

"The Augustine society is a noble one, began during the Second World War, it focuses on the study of vampires to determine ways to harness their powers for the betterment of mankind."

"You experiment on vampires," Caroline interjects, "I know those kind of experiments, I know who Mengele was."

Grayson rolls his eyes, "Vampires aren't human, Caroline," he argues with more condescension than she's heard in her life, "They aren't people to be protected by the Geneva convention and besides, we're coming up with real results here, real ways that we'll be able to protect and help the human race."

She could argue this point for a while but she lets him continue,

"During the fifties, the society caught Damon Salvatore and unfortunately, he escaped, killed many of the members and ever since has been killing the Whitmore family, leaving only one survivor every generation to carry on the family name. It was a major blow and took the society decades to recover but they did."

"I was recruited into the society while studying at Whitmore," he smiles in pride, "And my studies and findings achieved more in twenty years than in the previous thirty."

"I have found a way to use vampire blood to cure fibromyalgia in a ten-year-old girl," he announces excitedly, "By injecting strains of vampire blood into…"

"Moving on, mate," Enzo interrupts,

"Sorry gorgeous," he adds when she looks at him askance,

"But if you don't interrupt him he'll go on for _hours_."

He grabs her arm, pulls it towards him and sinks his fangs into her skin.

Grayson clears his throat, "Well, yeah…anyway, shortly before the…well…the accident at Wickery Bridge, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma- cancer of the bone- and, knowing that chemotherapy and similar treatments would affect my life and my work, I opted to treat myself with regular doses of vampire blood, even though it didn't cure the cancer, because it was a natural part of my body and couldn't be removed, but it kept me functioning and appearing healthy."

"You had vampire blood in your system when you died," Caroline surmised and he nodded,

"But not proper vampire blood." She finishes and his fingers tighten,

"Not in its purest form _no_ , but a watered down version- which rather complicated my transition."

"Fortunately," he looked up with an automatic smile, "When the Augustine society came to examine my body and found me in transition they agreed not to kill me, instead keeping me here until they could ensure that I wouldn't become a monster, at which point they allowed me to continue working for them."

"Is Mrs Gilbert here?" Caroline inquires and pain flashed across his eyes, when she glanced down at his hands she saw that his wedding ring was gone.

"No, no…Miranda had no vampire blood in her system."

"Jenna died," she continues, "Elena and Jeremy are being looked after by Alaric- our history teacher and Isabelle Pierce's ex-husband."

Grayson hums, "They didn't tell me that."

"Who?" she asks, "The Society? What do they want with me? Why am I here?"

He reaches over through the bars and holds out his hand, palm up and she remembered all the times he had done this throughout her life. Whenever she had gone to his office for a check-up, he had taken her hand and led her over to the examination chair, even when she'd been older, he had done it with exaggerated Southern courtesy.

It's a movement she's so long associated with trust and care that she gives him her hand without a second thought.

He's still smiling when he yanks her forward violently, causing her head to smack against the bars and bounce back as Grayson Gilbert- Elena's dad- the man who had given her every vaccination and had always made sure that he had the purple lollypops she'd liked so much- sank his fangs into her arm, tearing the flesh and guzzling the blood while she screamed and tried to fight him off.

Eventually, she blacked out.

* * *

Bonnie hadn't slept a wink.

How could she when her best friend was missing and the Original Hybrid was probably planning to kill them all?

Where was Caroline?

Of course their first thought had been that Klaus had kidnapped her, but when they'd performed a location spell, she hadn't shown up anywhere in Virginia and Elijah had searched his entire mansion before confirming that Caroline wasn't being held there.

And the Mikaelson's didn't have any other hiding spots in Mystic Falls, but they'd sent out Damon and Stefan to check every place someone could potentially hide a vampire.

They'd come back alone.

It was at this point that they had called over Jeremy and Alaric, filled them in on the latest disaster and…after trying to put off the inevitable, had asked Jeremy if he could see Caroline.

When he shook his head, Bonnie released a breath she hadn't even realized that she'd been holding.

Caroline wasn't on the Other Side.

So that meant she was still alive… _somewhere_.

They'd all crashed around three am, figuring that they weren't going to find anything that night and their ears had still been stinging from the lashing Sheriff Forbes had given them.

Nothing like seeing a woman who you'd known since you were a child look at you with loathing in her eyes to give you a reality check.

So Bonnie had lain and stared at the ceiling in the guest bedroom until the light had come through the window and she'd smelt coffee brewing downstairs.

Damon was in the kitchen, glaring at the mug in front of him as if it had murdered his family,

"Tea's in there," he snaps, jerking his head to the left and she rolls her eyes as the vague direction but taking a guess anyway and heading to the pantry.

They have a few seconds of silence; she boils the water using the fancy kettle before Damon turns his head towards her,

"Cards on the table," he begins, "You think blondie is still alive?"

Bonnie swallows and cups the mug in her hands, letting it scald her skin because if she focuses on that pain, she can convince herself that her eyes aren't tearing up in grief and fear.

"If she was dead, I reckon she would have found Jeremy by now," she reasons,

"Caroline's smart, the first thing she would have done is found us."

"Then why can't we find her?" he asks, "There is no way she could have been taken out of the state before you did the location spell."

Bonnie runs a scalded hand through her hair, "So she's being shielded, I barely know what I'm doing with my magic Damon, there's probably a hundred different ways to hide someone from me."

He nods and grits his jaw, "We need to find her."

Bonnie lets the word 'Duh' flash in her mind's eye a few times so she won't say it out loud but he continues speaking,

"Because if we don't we're gonna have to deal with Klaus' unresolved sex dreams."

That sentence is so disgusting that Bonnie wants to hurl her tea in his face, " _Really?_ " she deadpans,

"You really think that's our greatest concern if we can't find Caroline?"

He snorts, "Believe me, Bon-Bon, nothing's worse than the one that got away."

She wants to suggest that losing her best friend is a lot worse but she's interrupted by the slap of bare foot against the tiles.

"Morning," Elena sighs as she shuffles into the kitchen, stopping at Damon's side and pushing against him with a closed fist. Of course, he doesn't budge, but only flares his eyes at her teasingly until she pouts at him and he slides gracefully to the side, allowing her to reach for the coffee.

Bonnie notes that her friend isn't wearing a bra and her singlet isn't really doing much to hide that fact. Her sleep shorts aren't covering much either and Damon is staring at her like she's a blue label bottle of bourbon.

She wants to pull off her dressing gown to shield Elena from Damon's gaze but when Damon turns to the sink, her friend follows his movement with a look of want so reminiscent of Katherine that Bonnie nearly shouts with panic.

But the girl in front of her is definitely Elena.

Who was still dating Stefan, as of three-oh-five that morning anyway.

There's so much sexual tension in the room that Bonnie is starting to feel a tingle between her thighs so, once Elena has poured her coffee- into Damon's offered mug- Bonnie suggests the two of them go outside, to the back porch.

There is no chill to the morning but the two of them still huddle together as though they were seeking warmth. A few seconds of peaceful silence is all they have before they both try to jump into conversation, speaking in unison and then breaking off with laughter as they urged each other to speak first.

"I was thinking…" Elena sighed, "About last night, what Tyler said…do you think he maybe was on to something? About Caroline and… _Klaus?_ "

She spits the name with distaste as her long brunette hair slips across her bare arms and leaves goosebumps on her porcelain skin.

When Bonnie was younger, she'd envied Elena for her conventional beauty, her fragility and her slim body.

Especially in a town like Mystic Falls where the population of black people was in the single digits, where the Bennett's weren't eligible for Founding Family member status because Emily Bennett hadn't come to the town as a free woman and her children had been forced to flee to Canada.

It had taken a while for her to see her own prettiness, to see her own worth and draw confidence and self-respect from that.

Caroline on the other hand.

She was even more conventionally beautiful than Elena, and on paper she was perfect.

Intelligent, funny, cheerleader, driven and kind. She'd had boys smiling at her since she'd been in a training bra.

But how many times had Bonnie listened to her wallow because those same boys only wanted one thing from her and dropped her like garbage the second they got it.

How many times had she complained because she was never 'the one'? How often had she been passed over for Elena and how often had a guy only noticed her once they realized that the pretty brunette wasn't available?

Bonnie remembered the night that they'd killed Finn and later, Caroline had told her what Klaus had said. That he'd wanted to talk about her, her hopes, dreams, everything that interested her and what she wanted from life.

She'd brushed it off, snorting and making a comment about cheesy one-liners but Bonnie had seen the way her eyes had shone.

For the first time in her life- someone had been interested in her, in discovering her mind before discovering her body.

"I think…" she began, answering Elena's question, "That Klaus…cares about Caroline and probably shows her a side of himself that he doesn't show us and I think that Caroline does feel something for him yeah."

"I don't think they're sleeping together," she adds hastily when she sees Elena's horrified expression, "But, I think she is going to give him a chance."

"He killed Jenna!" Elena protests and Bonnie sighs, "I know," she says,

"But Damon killed Vicky, Mason and a whole other bunch of people and Stefan wiped out an entire town back in the day. We were complete strangers to Klaus, he had no reason to spare our lives and I'm not totally sure that he regrets a single thing he's ever done but vampires don't have the same sense of morality humans do Elena. I don't know what choice Caroline is going to make, but she'll have thought it through and made and pro and cons list a mile long when she does finally tell us about it."

She realized that she'd been talking about Caroline as if she was still alive and hoped that maybe if she kept doing so, she would be.

There's a knock on the backdoor and the girls look over their shoulders as Damon sticks his head out,

"Elijah called, powwow at the Mikaelson's"

* * *

One of the foremost rooms in the mansion was the living room opposite the ball room, Klaus had found a picture he'd liked in a magazine and had them redesign it down to the white marble vases that Elijah sniffed at disdainfully every time he walked past them. He, however, had liked the idea of evenings spent as a family, gathered in this room while outsiders could look in and wish for the tranquility, security and happiness to be found there.

It was something he himself had yearned for many a time.

Now, it was quickly filling with many people who had tried to kill him just hours ago, a strange man who seemed to know much about him, his brother and Ansel.

Ansel had followed him into the room and when Niklaus had sat down had set himself behind him, but when his shoulders had tensed, he had moved himself to the window, in full view of his son and he stood there now, his arms crossed as the Mystic Falls idiots crowded in.

Elena Gilbert's eyes sweep the room and settle on Elijah, causing the young girl to visibly relax. Stefan and Damon are both shadowing her, Matt, Jeremy and the history teacher tail along in their wake, Bonnie enters last and Ansel shifts. Klaus glances at him and he looks down, a flash of metal and a knife is being tucked back into the Alpha's plaid shirt.

Liz enters last and she looks terrible, filled with determination but desperate had raked its fiery coals over every inch of her body.

Interestingly enough, she doesn't look at her daughter's friends and none of them make the effort to meet her eyes.

Something happened there.

Something to do with Caroline.

Not that he cares about her whatsoever.

Liz looks around the room and sees Caroline isn't there and her shoulders drop.

"One of you called me and told me that you knew where Caroline was?" she asked with a hint of panic to her voice that Klaus doesn't notice at all.

Elijah cleared his throat, "Sheriff Forbes? We met earlier this morning. This is Professor Atticus Shane, he works at Whitmore College and has information regarding her whereabouts."

Atticus Shane, a man of average height and average looks was sitting on the couch, his arms on his knees, and his legs shaking slightly. He looks over at the Sheriff,

"Hi, please sit down," he requests, "Believe me, this could take a lot out of you."

Liz quickly complies, taking the closest available seat which is on the opposite end of the couch from Klaus,

"Is my daughter dead?" she asks and Klaus' hands tighten into a fist.

"I believe your daughter is still alive," he begins and the woman closes her eyes in relief,

"But she is in trouble," he clears his throat, looks around the room and his gaze settles on Damon.

"I'm going to tell you everything I know," he assures them, "I don't think it's even close to the whole story but it should be enough to help you with what you need to do."

"My wife is a witch, I accepted a teaching position at Whitmore because it was close enough to Mystic Falls that she could pull on the natural magic that flows through the town without being caught up in the danger that comes with living atop a reserve of supernatural energy. At Whitmore, I found out about the Augustine Society, when they invited me to join its ranks…"

Damon interrupts then with a snort, "How old are you? The society died out sixty years ago!"

Elena hisses his name and Liz turns her head to glare at him through red-rimmed eyes, Atticus only shakes his head, "No, it didn't Damon, I'm sorry but you didn't kill all the members that night and they were able to rebuild the society. By the time I got there, they had become radicalized and were talking about wiping out the vampire race, with only two or three left alive for the purpose of medical advancement. They explained to me that they wanted to create a serum that would change a vital part of the vampire's internal system, I didn't understand all the science but at the core of it- they would change vampires so that they no longer needed human blood to survive but vampire blood. When they perfected the serum, they wanted to inject it into the most powerful vampire they could find and set them loose to potentially wipe out all vampires across the globe."

"That's insane!" Elena blurts out, "They can't do that! It's… _genocide!_ "

Atticus shrugs, "There isn't a single argument that you can make that I didn't point out to them, but I'm afraid they ignored me, and worse…they got the serum, it's been trialed once and they're pretty sure it'll work."

"Why did they want you?" Elijah asked and Ansel smirked, "I've travelled the world studying myths, legends and magical history, I was a version of Wikipedia to them, they figured that I would know the perfect vampire to give this serum to."

"And you gave them my name?" Klaus guessed and the man nodded without a single hint of regret.

"Legend has it that you're the most psychotic vampire out there, and I'd heard about you breaking your curse, I figured that if I had to send the Augustine's after anyone, best to make it the person with the greatest chance of wiping them all out."

"Why did you want to help him at all?" Bonnie asks quietly, jumping when Klaus' hateful gaze settles on her but speaking anyway,

"If your wife is a witch, then she probably hates vampires right?"

Atticus nods, "She does, and she agreed with the Augustine's when they first approached us, until I convinced her otherwise."

He sits up straight and his back cracks at the movement, "My argument against drinking the Kool-aid is that I've read way too many novels set in dystopian futures to not guess how this would play out. Say the society was successful and they made you crave vampires, feed on your own kind- there's what? How many vampires are there in the world? A million? Two?"

Elijah makes a noise of demurral, "Not even that, one million vampires would be far too difficult to avoid detection, in any way shape or form, at best, the number would sit around one hundred thousand, the extreme figure would be three hundred thousand."

Atticus nods, "Okay, so how many could an Original who's now addicted to vampire blood take out in a year?"

"It would depend on several factors but my conservative estimate would be five thousand, provided these vampires were stretched out thinly, went into hiding and Niklaus did not go into the more heavily populated cities, or those areas with the least amount of sunlight during the winter months."

"Right," Atticus accepts, "So in twenty years, give or take, he would run out of vampires to feed on."

Klaus only shrugged at this dismal prediction of a future that would never come to pass, "I would simply create new vampires and compel them to go and turn as many people as possible."

Damon snorts, "Of course _you_ would."

Atticus turns his gaze from Elijah back to him, "I told the Augustine society that my fear was that when you ran out of vampires to eat, that you and your siblings would begin turning humans en-masse and in another ten to twenty years, would have reduced the human race to glorified farm animals, keeping them for breeding purposes and slave labor but otherwise visiting such a level of destruction on this world that it would never be able to recover."

"And what did they say?" Stefan inquired, coming forward now, and giving Damon a silencing glare.

"That I was being fanciful and that they would never let that happen."

"So they're going ahead with their plan?" Klaus asked.

"After I refused to help any more than I had to, they threatened my wife and son, fortunately, my wife had heard through the grapevine about the Gemini coven and I started hiking through the woods around Mystic Falls, taking students there on field trips to shield my real intentions but figured Ansel would try and return to his lands or seek you out, I brought him clothes and a weapon and explained the situation to him. We've been trying to keep you from getting into opportunities where they could lure you away. They had been planning to kidnap you last night but the arrival of that group there," he jerked his head to where they were standing,

"Forced them to reconsider their plans."

"I'm pretty certain that the Augustine Society kidnapped Caroline, I think they'll plan to use her as bait, to lure Klaus in."

Sheriff Forbes flinches at that, "Where are they holding her?" she demands, "If it's Whitmore campus I can have as many police as needed there by noon."

"I do not think that would be wise." Elijah counters politely, "If these people are holding Caroline, at the sign of the police- they might…dispose of her. By sun or by stake, either way, there wouldn't be a body to identify and no crime to arrest them for."

Caroline's mother glares at him, "I am not going to sit here while a bunch of crazed scientists _experiment_ on my daughter."

"The Augustine lab is underground on private property in the middle of Whitmore campus," Atticus tells them, "So the vampires won't be able to enter and the one time my wife went in there she passed out, they have kings-root in the air vents and something preventing outside magic from getting in."

Klaus shrugged, "Then we can either draw them out or I can go to Whitmore campus and start killing people until they release Caroline- you wouldn't happen to know if any of these Society members have young children or partners?"

Several people look at him in disgust but before he can be condemned for his blood-thirsty nature, Ansel speaks up, "I shall go retrieve her."

Everyone turns to him and the Sheriff appraises him, "Who are you and why are you here?"

"Niklaus' birth-father," he gives her a deep nod, "I was brought back to this plane by the Gemini coven who sought to turn me against my son, they are dead now."

Klaus shifted in his seat as Ansel calmly revealed his parentage, but he was interrupted in his discomfort by Bonnie flaring up,

"You _murdered_ a coven of good people?!" she shouted furiously, the curtains billowing and wind starting to blow throughout the room.

Before anyone could move, there was a flash of metal, the sound of something slicing through the air and a heavy clunk as the butchers' knife Ansel had taken from the kitchen was lodged into the painting not even an inch from Bonnie's head.

"I do not kill you now because it is not a convenient time," Ansel warns darkly,

"But you shall pay with your life for the curse you put on my son."

Damon leaps forward and Klaus goes to intercept him, driving his open palm against the man's solar plexus, dropping him to his knees and gasping for air,

"Sorry mate, I have a no killing policy when it comes to outsiders and my family, it's a pride thing, you know."

Matt clears his throat, "Um…guys, if we could get back to rescuing Caroline?"

Ansel straightens up and comes closer to the group, "You cannot send in a vampire or a witch, I am the best option."

Klaus glares at him, "You're twenty-nine days from the next full moon and don't know how to operate a _door knob_."

The look Ansel gives him is positively withering, "I am a warrior Niklaus, my hands are drenched in the blood of our enemies, the Mayans called me a demon, the Apache called me a monster, a thin block of wood will not keep me from retrieving your woman."

"She is _not_ my woman," he argues automatically, seething under the disbelieving expression on Ansel's face,

"No? Then you have treated her quite poorly if you have no intentions of marrying her."

Klaus closes his eyes in mortification as those in the room react in predictable ways, shock, horror, disbelief, disgust.

"What do you mean he's _treated her poorly_?" Liz screeches and those with supernatural hearing wince at the banshee-like pitch in her tone.

"I have seen them together, several times now," Ansel explains over Klaus' shoulder,

"They consort in a manner one would expect of a couple promised to one another, not two unattached peoples."

"You slept with a married woman and set in motion a chain of events that led to the creation of vampires and an eternal war between them and the werewolves." Klaus growls through gritted teeth, before turning to Elijah and sending him a pleading glance before this turns violent and- for once- his brother comes to his mercy.

"If we are going to attack the Augustine Society, we shall need a plan, firstly, a distraction so that these numerous murders, Miss Forbes retrieval and presumably the burning down of the base of operations will not be attributed to us."

He opens his arms, "Shall we begin?"

* * *

"I'm sorry, gorgeous," Enzo sighs as Caroline lays curled up on the cell floor, she's just close enough to his cell that he can reach over and stroke her hair.

It was a small level of comfort.

Elena's father had torn into her flesh several times, draining her blood to feed himself until she had desiccated and then been given one shot of human blood to restore her.

It hadn't worked.

Not properly.

Caroline hugged her knees closer to her chest.

She had never been fed from before.

It had been horrifying.

It hadn't just been the loss of her blood, but she felt as though Grayson had crawled through her veins and into her brain before forcing his way into her mind, into the essence of her.

It had been a _violation_.

"I know how you feel right now," Enzo murmured in a soothing tone and British accent that wasn't the one she wanted to hear right now.

"Grayson's fed on me for so long that I've lost more of myself than I could ever possibly retrieve."

"You didn't warn me," Caroline snarls, "You should have _warned_ me."

He hums, "If I had, it would have been so much worse. They use electric shocks to subdue us, vervein bullets, you would have been chained to the bars and tortured for resisting. This way is easier."

She aches, every part of her starving for blood and crying for comfort.

She won't get either in this cell.

"That was the last time he'll hurt me," she swears, rolling over she kept her voice as low and her lips as still as possible so no piece of technology could overhear them,

"You and I are getting out of this place."

* * *

A/N- Yeah. I did all that.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N- Had some spare time at work so managed to get this written.

* * *

"We should wait until tomorrow night."

Klaus raises his head to look at Bonnie, not immediately comprehending what she had said.

Stretched across the dining room table was several maps of the university that Jeremy run out and grabbed from the high school careers counsellor and which they were all studying.

The Augustine Society house and underground dungeon was in the very middle of the campus, surrounded by main thoroughfares, two frat houses, an obscenely large café and bar combination and well-lit for security of the students and peace of mind.

Klaus had never snuck into a building before, usually he was a storm the gates and kill everyone in his way kind of guest, so he had no idea how to get Caroline out of the building and through the campus without anyone spotting her.

When Bonnie sees that he hadn't heard her she repeats her statement,

"We should wait until tomorrow night," she tells him, "Saturday night."

"Why?" Ansel asks the question for him, "Is one night different from the others?"

Bonnie tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "College campuses are dead on Saturdays, you have kids going home for the weekend or hanging out in their rooms, they're either sleeping or hungover and Saturday night? They'll be at parties or bars in the town."

"That means they'll be moving about the campus frequently before midnight," Elijah noted with concern,

"I don't suppose there's any event coming up tomorrow night? Something to draw as many students away from the scene as possible?"

In unison, the humans under twenty all drew out their phones and began searching online before Ansel tilted his head and closed his eyes in thought,

"Should we send them away? Can we not incite them to anger and blame them for any damage done to the house and carry Caroline through the crowd?"

Klaus gave his father an incredulous glance, "You want to start a riot at a college and use the distraction to cover the killings and rescue?"

His father nods, "Exactly."

"What about a concert?" Elena holds up her phone, "The Fray are playing at Richmond tonight, could we maybe compel them to the college tomorrow?"

"I'm pretty sure the society would notice something was up if a famous band suddenly moved their gig from a stadium to the campus green." Damon pointed out but Elijah held up a finger,

"What if…they were in transit and their tour bus broke down? What if they decided to perform a free concert at Whitmore in return for lodgings for the night?" he hypothesized before taking out his own phone, "Brother, I'm going to make some calls."

Matt watched him stride from the room with an incredulous expression on his face, "Is your brother really going to compel _The Fray_?" he wondered aloud,

"Of course not," Niklaus scoffed, "He's going to have one of our minions do it."

Sheriff Forbes walks around the table and sees the axe that Ansel had taken from the tool shed and planned to use as a weapon propped up on one of the dining chairs. She sighs and rubs her forehead.

"You realize that Ansel is going to stand out wandering around a crowd twenty years younger than him, not to mention carrying a weapon into a restricted place?"

Klaus turns to his father, "We'll give him a jacket, he'll be fine."

Truthfully, Ansel's part in the rescue attempt was the one he was least concerned about. The legend of the White Wolf was still told centuries after the fact so he doubted a few humans who- at best- had taken a few defensive classes and maybe carried a firearm or two would be able to cause him much damage. He was a man used to fighting and not leaving prisoners, hopefully, whomever owned the house would be inside, one they were dead. Klaus could enter freely and pull Caroline out.

Not that she would even want to see him.

She was probably waiting for Tyler Lockwood to come rescue her, carry her off into the bloody sunset and swear that she would never have to flirt with him again.

Still, even after her betrayal, her falsity and rejection- the thought of her suffering, in any sort of pain or being held captive, angered him.

No, it annoyed him. Anger would imply that he cared.

That she had hurt him.

That he was _weak_.

"I can get him a uniform," Sheriff Forbes volunteered, "Dress him up as a cop and give him a badge, he can knock on the door and pretend that he's warning the society about the disruption of the concert?"

Ansel frowns at that, "I've never approached an enemy with falsehoods, it is unmanly to lure them to their deaths with a lie."

Atticus Shane had left earlier, worried that his long absence would be noticed by the society. He had gone home to his wife and son, under the pretense that they were sick and needed care.

Fortunately, Elijah re-enters the room at the tail end of that speech and when Niklaus doesn't speak, steps in, "These people kidnapped a young girl to torture and experiment on her," he points out, "And they plan to wipe out vampires everywhere, a little bit of deception won't destroy your honor when you fight against them."

Ansel shrugs and doesn't seem overly concerned about his honor, probably annoyed by the lack of challenge this deception would mean for him.

It certainly hadn't been a barrier to sleeping with a married woman.

* * *

Their plan is frustratingly simple and easy to determine. Tomorrow afternoon, an anonymous tip would come into the Sheriff's department claiming that Caroline had been seen at a blood bank in Richmond. The Sheriff would go to check out the tip personally, Damon, Stefan and Klaus would go with her. Meanwhile, Alaric would be going to Whitmore to use the library and bring along Jeremy, Elena, Bonnie and Matt under the guise of touring the campus. Elijah would be staying in Mystic Falls until Klaus called him from Richmond, claiming to need a ride home after the Sheriff abandoned him in Richmond. Elijah would drive out to pick him up along the same route that all cars took north from Mystic Falls- the same highway with the off-ramp leading to Whitmore.

All of them would stop off in the same town, looking to have dinner, hear about the concert- at which point Liz would offer her services to the campus security and the rest of them would go to hear the Fray play.

This would leave them all within proximity of the Society house as Ansel- who would be travelling to Whitmore on foot through the forests- entered and killed anyone who stood between him and Caroline.

All that was left was for the Sheriff to take Ansel to the station and give him a uniform.

Ansel didn't seem all that excited about getting into a car, but he bravely followed the Sheriff out of the house.

Leaving everyone else to wait.

But when Damon started making eyes at the wet bar, Klaus stepped in and kicked them all out of the house to go hold their vigil back at the Salvatore Boarding House for brooding alcoholics.

Finally, he was alone for the first time that day, Klaus heads to his art studio and meanders about the room, so many empty canvases, so many paints, charcoals and pencils, so much potential.

He's feeling post-modern, painting something in the Cubist style.

He eagerly prepares his paints, almost jogging across the room to grab his paintbrushes and board, getting everything ready and his excitement rushes through his veins right up to the very moment the tip of the brush touches the canvas.

And then Caroline's face flashes before his eyes.

In his mind's eye, she's smiling but he knows that she's not smiling now.

Wherever she is, she isn't happy, she isn't laughing and she doesn't feel safe.

She's being experimented on. Possibly tortured. Likely interrogated for information, information about him, information that she would hesitate to give because doing so wouldn't just endanger him but her friends and every member of Klaus' bloodline.

She is frightened, wondering whether she would ever escape and here he was getting ready to make a stupid piece of art.

In his fury and frustration, he drives the paintbrush through the canvas, tearing it diagonally and flinging it away from him.

She had used him.

She had _betrayed_ him.

She had lied to him and played him for a _fool_.

But he gripped the easel with both hands, leaned against it and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.

'Hold on, Caroline,' he thought, 'Just one more day, sweetheart.'

* * *

Several hours had passed since Caroline had regained consciousness on the cold floor of her basement cell.

The night had come and gone and if she concentrated, she could hear the sounds of students making their way across Whitmore campus, headed for coffee or headed for class, living their lives blissfully unaware of the suffering taking place beneath their feet.

She would have liked to have watched them, from the miniscule, soundproofed and reflective glass in her cell but her daylight ring had been snatched off her the moment she had been captured.

So instead, she had remained where she lay on the basement floor, the only movement had come an hour after Enzo had begun stroking her hair, when she had rolled over to face him.

He had continued running his fingers through her hair and the security cameras recorded her reaching out to link her fingers through his free hand while the listening devices picked up on the melodic hum of his voice and perhaps the occasional word.

The two Augustine members in charge of monitoring activity in their cells concluded that Subject 12144 was singing to Subject 13910 in an attempt to pacify her. They noted it in their observation log and checked in every hour, noting very little diversion in their actions.

She knew about this, because she had every waking minute grilling Enzo about the Society. About the layout of the house, how often he was taken to the laboratory across campus, how many people were in the house on a regular day, had he ever noticed any alarm systems, which part of the house was closest to a public street or if there was- ideally- any underground tunnel that they could use.

For every answer he gave her, she dissected it and asked another five, interrogating him in the same manner her mother had trained her deputies until he was exhausted and bad tempered but with a strain of something light in his voice.

He'd told her about what happened with Damon and how he'd been closely monitored for years after the fact, his hand trembles in her hair as he speaks.

"Don't worry," she whispers through barely parted lips, "I won't leave without you."

He grins and tugs on a lock of her hair teasingly, "Do you have a boyfriend, gorgeous?"

He's trying to make her laugh or play it up for the camera but the question catches her off-guard.

Or not so much the question as the fact that she didn't know the answer.

Did she have a boyfriend?

She has a flashback to all the times she and Klaus had kissed, had touched one another, had been naked, had held each other, had walked together, driven together, talked, flirted, joked.

Her cheeks burn with pleasure and desire but the final memory is like a bucket of icy cold water splashed over her unsuspecting body.

The disgust in his voice the last time he'd spoken to her.

Did she have a boyfriend?

Did she even have friends?

Where were they? Why hadn't they come for her?

What about her mom? Was she scared or upset? Or was she tearing Mystic Falls apart looking for her?

Before she can answer, Enzo tugs on her hair, sharply this time, in warning and she begins pushing herself up as the door opens and Grayson enters. She instinctively recoils but he's not alone, there's a woman with him, a human woman and Caroline's gums twinge as hunger curdles in her stomach.

She wanted to rip into this woman's throat and drink her dry.

This must have shown on her face because the woman looks at her with complete loathing and Caroline has to wonder if the man she killed was perhaps a relative of hers.

Or her soulmate.

Grayson ignores the tension between the two of them and raps his pen on the bars, and he looks slightly better than he did yesterday but only to the point where Caroline was maybe certain that his skin was less grey and his hair less rank, he didn't have to squint to see her and he held himself a little taller.

"Caroline," he begins in the same no-nonsense tone of voice he'd used for unruly children in his office waiting room,

"If I take you to my lab to talk, are you going to try to escape?"

She sneers, "Seriously?! You took my daylight ring and it's not even noon! If I did escape I wouldn't get more than ten yards before I went up in flames."

He huffs as if her attitude is so juvenile and for the first time she imagines her fingers closing around his weak throat and squeezing what little life remained out of him.

"She'll be fine." he confirms to the woman who only raises an eyebrow,

"I think we should inject her." she says and Caroline can sense the tension that suddenly lines every inch of Enzo,

"That won't be necessary," he smiles, "She had a bit of a shock earlier, but she and I have been talking and she's calmer now, she won't cause any trouble, will you love?"

She hesitates but that's purely for effect, she lowers her eyes and drops her shoulders to look submissive, and nods quietly.

The door to her cage is unlocked and she's told her hold her hands out while the woman holds a modified tranquilizer gun to her breast. She knows that she's going to be cuffed and clenches her hands so that she'll have wiggle room on them later.

But when Grayson puts the restraints on her wrists, they're so loose she's surprised they don't fall off completely. She realizes that the handcuffs are less for her and more for the peace of mind of anyone they encounter along the way.

Not that it'd make much difference, the sun is still shining brightly outside and she'd have to make her way across half a mile of uncovered college campus before reaching the nearest tree where she could hope to find a shadow.

Math isn't her strong suit but she figures the odds against her would be astronomically high.

So she pretends to be subdued as Grayson leads her from the cells, up a set of wooden stairs, through a non-descript door and into a hallway so perfectly normal and suburban that she has a moment of disorientation.

The only difference between this hallway and every single house in Mystic Falls is that the Pottery Barn curtains have been drawn across the windows to block out the midmorning sun.

Grayson still flinches in the dull light and picks up his pace infinitesimally as he leads her to the first door on the right, and ushers her in with frantic but shaken hand movements.

Caroline picks up on his nervousness about the exposure any sunlight and slips into the room, becoming enveloped in total darkness and bumping her leg against something sharp. She hisses and squeezes her eyes shut before opening them again to look around and let her vision adjust to the dark.

She can feel the movement of air from the far left corner and sees the dull white of an undusted air vent. There's a desk underneath it and various science and lab paraphernalia taking up the entire right side of the room, there's a hint of chemicals and blood in the air, and she wrinkles her nose at the unpleasant cocktail of scents. Grayson takes her arms and moves her a step to the left, leaning around her awkwardly to turn on a tiny desk lamp that looked like it had been on a clearance sale at Walmart.

With the cheapest light bulb available. The weak glow would hardly make a difference for human eyes.

"Wow," she remarks sarcastically, "This society doesn't have much budget for the basics, huh?"

Grayson walks over to the desk and sinks down into the computer chair that had probably been old back when computers were still new.

"My eyes can't handle bright light for prolonged time." he explains, somewhat apologetically and Caroline jumps on this,

"Um Dr. Gilbert…" she tilts her head and ever so subtly sticks out her right hip in classic brainless cheerleader pose,

"How are you feeling now? Did my blood help? Because if you promise not to bite me, I can maybe give you some more, all I need is a cup."

He manages a crooked smile, "Call me Grayson, Caroline, Doctor Gilbert died that night on Wickery Bridge."

She gives a little frown of confusion, "Okay."

He motions for her to bring over the other chair and she perches on the edge of it,

"Lorenzo said that you had calmed down since being brought here," he begins, "Is this true?"

She bites her lip and looks out of the corner of her eye before nodding,

"Uh huh, I mean, I'm pissed that you fed on me D…Grayson, that hurt a lot but he said that you have some solution for vampires and…well, it kinda sucks being stuck at seventeen."

There's a flash of pride in his eyes and Caroline wants to smile as he falls for her play, hook, line and sinker.

She's been held captive by a zealot or two before, including her own father, she knows how to play to their vanity and self-righteousness.

"We don't have a cure yet," he tells her, patting her hand sympathetically,

"But we do have a plan to stop vampires feeding on humans…"

Caroline froze her face into an expression of polite interest as inside her head she screamed on and on as Grayson Gilbert explained the Augustine Society, from its humble beginning with one mad doctor and Enzo, until that very day. He explained vampire blood to her, making her walk over to his equipment and study one of Enzo's earliest, undiluted samples through a microscope. She asked him to explain every time a scientific term went over her head and found herself with a crash course in hematology, as Grayson tried to remove as much magic from vampirism as possible until all Caroline could see was facts and cells.

They took a break at what Caroline guessed to be midday and after Grayson made a call on his landline, a man stomped into the room, slammed a coffee cup on the desk so hard that it nearly broke and banged the door behind him.

Clearly they resented all vampires, even the ones working for them.

Silently, she bit into her wrist and tried not to fall off her chair as she bled into the cup. Having to stop when it was only half full and in return, he allowed her a shot of the human blood he kept locked away in a mini-fridge, it wasn't enough to restore her to strength but it kept her conscious and from desiccating. Grayson then resumed his lecturing, about how he'd been the first to figure out how to successfully modify the blood so that it could be turned into medicine for humans, about how they'd tried to adapt it for a cancer patient- to disastrous results- but how he progressed until he was able to cure one girl of fibromyalgia. This segue ways into a two-hour recap of the several years he's spent trying to brainstorm a way that vampire blood could become the ultimate cure for humans without the world ever having to discover their existence.

And Caroline can see his passion, she can see how much he believes in what he's doing, how from his point of view, the point of view of the Mystic Falls Founding families, vampires were monsters, plagues on the earth who cared only for killing and feeding. Diseases, infections, bacteria caused so much suffering in the world, and if vampires could give their blood to save lives, then shouldn't they?

She almost finds herself agreeing with him until he begins explaining her role in everything. How she was bait to lure in Klaus Mikaelson.

How they had developed a serum that would turn vampires against each other, make them feed on one another and worse, how they planned to inject it into the Original hybrid.

Caroline remembered the first time she had seen Klaus, the first time he'd spoken to her, the night he'd turned Tyler into a hybrid. The determination in his eyes, the savage cruelty.

He'd wanted his hybrids.

What would he look like when he _needed_ blood?

The blood of his siblings, her friends, her?

She'd never seen him feed, but this serum- it was designed to make him ravenous.

Would he become a ripper like Stefan?

She saw cities burning and corpses piled high.

She couldn't let that happen.

"I…" she interrupts him and drops her chin, "Um…your idea is great and all but there's a flaw, Klaus won't come for me, he…doesn't like me that much."

Grayson frowns and his lips thin into a barely perceptible line, "I thought you and he were…involved?"

Wonderful. Just what she wanted, to divulge her sex life to Elena's dead dad.

She cleared her throat and searches for a plausible lie, wondering if maybe she could tell Grayson what had happened that night in the clearing.

But then she remembers what Klaus had said.

"I…we…" she blows out a breath, "My friends and I…we had a plan of our own concerning Klaus, we wanted to unlink him from his sire line and kill him, but to do that we needed him distracted, which is where I came in. I was the distraction."

Only scarce hairs remain of Grayson's eyebrows but she sees them shoot up in surprise,

"When you say your friends…did _Elena_ know about this?"

She swallows and jerks her head awkwardly, "Um…yeah, kinda?"

He sits back, "She knows about vampires then?"

Caroline sighs and fidgets, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair and ending up smacking her face with her handcuffs, "She's…uh…kind of dating Stefan Salvatore."

He goes very still, "The Ripper of Monterrey?"

"Yeah, but he hasn't gone on any ripper binges in a few months, I think he's kind of in control now."

"Kind of?"

Everything she's saying is causing Grayson growing concern for his daughter and Caroline plays into that,

"Well yeah, I mean he did spend the summer killing up and down the east coast and Elena was in danger for a while but now, he's much better."

Grayson is so agitated that he stands up, swaying on his feet and sinks back down, gripping his chair and trying to get himself orientated,

"I didn't _know_ ," he pants as he breathes slowly, "Nobody _told_ me that she was in danger."

She wonders if perhaps Grayson hadn't maybe been kidding himself about his situation after his transition. If he hadn't been living in denial about Jeremy and Elena being okay without him as he locked himself away in this basement.

She leans forward and takes his hands, absently noting how they feel like her grandmother's hands in her final days,

"Listen, I have an idea, if you have enough people with guns and stuff then we won't need to lure Klaus here, we can get him when he's vulnerable and his brother and sister too!"

Of course, Klaus would never be vulnerable enough to be jumped by some humans, but Caroline was betting on him being able to defend himself against this Society.

But Grayson immediately shakes his head, "No, Caroline," he says firmly, "I'm afraid that the Society won't agree to that. You're too much of a risk for us to let you out immediately, maybe after a year or two when you've been properly trained to retur…"

Caroline grabbed his neck and twisted it until it snapped.

If Plan A wasn't going to work, she'd have to go to Plan B.

* * *

She turns on the overhead light and looks about the room for the vinegar that she'd smelt earlier, the bottles that Enzo had told her that Grayson kept there to mask the stench of his death and the other chemicals.

She grabs them in her arms and opens the door to the hallway, flicking out the light and looking both ways.

There's a knock on the front door and the woman from before goes to answer it, Caroline uses this chance to flash down into the cells, tossing the vinegar on the floor and turning to Enzo,

"There!" he points quickly, "Under the bench."

The industrial sized tub of bleach. Used to clean their cells when they'd been tortured and bled too much.

She rips off the lid and begins pouring in the vinegar which reacts immediately, coughing and gagging, she stops breathing as she carries the bucket up the stairs and into the hallway, dropping it down in the middle and waiting for the security guards to come running.

One comes out of the kitchen, sees her standing there and aims his gun, but she jumps across the room and grabs it out of his hands, tearing into his throat and restoring her strength by draining him dry.

She then leaps to her feet, the predator within her coming to the fore as she looks for more prey.

She smells blood and prowls to the living room to find the woman lying on the couch with her head caved in, three more bodies and a man in police uniform standing there with an axe.

He turns to her and tilts his head slightly, "Caroline?"

She rocks back on her heels, "Who are you?"

His smile is grim but there, and his eyes…

She knows the answer before he even speaks, "I'm Ansel," he holds out a hand, "Niklaus' father."

She's still caught by surprise but before she can even say 'Seriously?!', she hears the ominous click of metal.

She grabs him and drags them behind the couch, expecting gunfire but instead hearing an explosion.

Grenade.

She's never experienced one before but she's seen enough tv shows and movies to not be entirely surprised by the explosive shock, the deafness, the ringing in her ears as they heal and her world tries to realign itself.

Ansel cups her head, pushing her down to the floor as he staggers back to his feet and hurls his axe.

She ignores his silent command to stay down and grabs the couch, hoisting herself up just in time to see the carpet catch fire.

Combined with the chlorine gas she'd created; the house would be deadly in minutes.

She grabs the dead woman and begins rummaging through her pockets for the keys to the cells, Ansel tries to take her arm but she shakes him off,

"There's a man downstairs," she explains, coughing as she breathes in smoke and toxic air,

"We have to save him."

The woman isn't carrying the keys and she tosses the body away in frustration, staggering to the other bodies to find their pockets empty as well.

Meanwhile, Ansel- whose eyes are bright red and struggling to breathe- is slowly making his way towards the basement, checking the numerous corpses he made on the way. Caroline flashes past him, ripping his axe out of his hands and running down to the cells. The cuffs are still on her hands but when she reaches Enzo's cell, she doesn't even stop to speak to him, instead, she just whacks the axe against the lock of the door, repeatedly, until the handle of the axe breaks.

But the door remains shut.

She coughs and gags, but grabs hold of the bars, "Help me!" she tells him and they push and pull against the bars of the door.

They don't budge.

The smoke is wafting against the ceiling of the basement and Enzo looks up at it in fear, pushing frantically against the bars,

"Don't leave me, gorgeous." He begs and she shakes her head,

"I won't," she swears, looking up as Ansel appears with a gun, "Can you use this?" he asks hopefully as he hands it to her and she checks the magazine.

Pump-action shotgun, she pumps it, braces herself for the recoil and has both men stand back while she aims it at the lock.

She knows that shooting at a lock to open a door is a myth, in fact in reality, it was more likely to jam the door shut, but she figures that eight bullets at this close quarter would have to work in their favor.

She ignores the roar of the fire as it begins consuming the house and the toxins tear at her lungs. She focuses all her attention on the lock, willing it to shatter.

Brace, aim, fire, bury the recoil, pump the gun, aim, fire, repeat, repeat, repeat.

"Caroline," Ansel places a hand on her shoulder, "I promised my son that I would get you out of here."

Caroline shakes her head, "I'm _not_ leaving him!"

Enzo is banging against the bars, pushing furiously as the lock remains firm, "No, no, no!" he shouts in frustration, "Not _again_!"

Ansel is struggling to breathe and sits down on the floor, pulling out a phone and pressing a button,

"She's here," he shouts at the screen, "But refusing to leave without a man."

The smoke is just above their heads now and soon, they'll all suffocate, Caroline fires the remaining rounds at the lock, sweat pouring down her face and her vision is beginning to swim.

She hears her name called and sees a man at the top of the stairs. Klaus.

He clambers down into the cells and takes in the situation, he grabs the bars, shouting in surprise as they've heated up from the fire and using all his strength, pulls them apart to make a two-foot hole.

He grabs Enzo by the collar and wrenches him through the space, dislocating his shoulders and breaking bones in the process but getting him free.

Ansel staggers to his feet and spits up blood, leaning against his son who pushes the wounded Enzo ahead of them and glares at Caroline,

" _Move!_ " he orders her, his tone brooking no argument.

Her legs feel like jelly and she struggles to see past the smoke as she climbs the stairs that are beginning to collapse, Klaus having to throw Enzo up into the hall, where he lands on her, knocking them both to the floor as he jumps up with Ansel.

Caroline sees the door to Grayson's lab is open as is the kitchen window, but she doesn't have time to worry about him, the ceiling is cracking and bits of plaster are dropping to the floor, there is one bream that's starting to creak as it gives way and she pushes herself with the last bit of her strength to make it out the front door, keeping herself going until she reaches the grass where she drops to her knees, throws her head back and breathes in a great lungful of clean air.

Almost immediately, she's picked up and sped away, to the tree line where she's set down carefully again and her hair is pushed back from her face,

"Are you okay?" Stefan asks, "Do you need me to carry you?"

She chokes and turns her head away to spit on the ground,

"I'm…fine," she croaked, "But, Klaus and his dad and Enzo…"

He draws a flask out of his jacket and pushes it into her hands, "Drink this."

The blood tastes overly metallic but she swallows it down gratefully, catching her breath and orientating herself.

She can hear loud music, cheering crowds, the roar of fire and shouts of alarm as people realize the danger. Sirens in the distance and then the heavy footfalls of three men making their way towards her.

Ansel drops to his knees and is violently ill, Enzo leans against a tree and looks around, utterly confused.

Klaus…

He approaches her with blood on his face and eyes bright and hard as diamonds and she has a moment of fear that makes her slides backwards in the dirt, causing him to frown as he bends down and cups her chin in his hands, forcing her to look up at him,

"Are you alright?" he demands in a voice more animal than human.

She nods and he releases her, "Good, Elena and Bonnie will be here soon, they'll take you to your mother."

He goes to leave but she reaches up and catches his hand, enveloping it in hers,

"Thank-you." She whispers, managing a weak smile which after a moment, he mirrors.

Bending down, he helps Ansel to his feet, leading him away and Elena and Bonnie are there not even a few seconds later, embracing her tightly and stroking her hair, peppering her with questions that she's too tired to answer.

"Come on," Bonnie wrapped an arm around her waist, "Your mom is waiting on a side street."

She nods and turns to Enzo, "Follow me."

He smirks, "Always, gorgeous."

* * *

A/N- Nearing the end now.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N- Okay, so this is the final chapter of the story before the epilogue.

Thank-you everyone for reading.

* * *

Caroline managed to keep herself together as Elena and Bonnie guided her through the night, through the streets with the old gum stuck on the pavement, the various cars that would be replaced in five years for newer models, the houses with the flag posts, the streetlights that were garishly bright and offered no protection anyway.

Mosquitoes whirred past, crickets chirped in the distance, somehow audible even above the screaming of fire engine sirens.

There are people all around, coming out of their houses to see the fire visible above the tree lines, an orange hue against the starry black sky, asking each other what was happening. They saw Caroline, supported by her two friends and an elderly woman came over to offer them her home to clean up and rest,

"Thanks," Elena said, hugging Caroline against her, her hand tight on her waist,

"But her dad is meeting us down the road."

Her _dad?_

For a wild moment, Caroline thinks her daddy has come back to life, has come to get her but just as quickly, she realizes that Elena is lying to try and cover their tracks.

Does that mean that she's not safe?

She swallows around the lump in her throat, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and manages a small smile for the elderly lady.

Behind her, Enzo is hovering, the toe of his shoe scratching against her heel every time he took a step, he kept reaching forward and catching a scrap of her dress in his fingers, as if to make sure she was there, that he wasn't dreaming.

He was free. They both were.

But it didn't really sink in until the moment she saw her mother standing beside her police vehicle on the side street, every part of her visibly brimming with nervous energy.

She broke down then and flashed towards her, disorientating herself in her drained state but Liz caught her in her arms and held her tight, "Oh my baby."

"Mommy," Caroline choked, "I'm okay."

That's a lie but Liz doesn't call her out on it. Instead, she squeezes her tight and then bustles her into the front seat of the car, looking around for danger as Elena and Bonnie get Enzo into the backseat. Caroline turns to watch Bonnie buckle the vampire in and offer him a tight smile,

"Everything is fine." she tells him, taking his hand and patting it gently. He gives her a charming smile,

"Thank-you, gorgeous."

It seems like an eternity before Liz slides into the driver's seat, buckling up automatically and turning the key, Caroline waiting breathlessly, filled with anxiety as the car finally starts moving, sliding through the streets, the headlights dimmed and the sirens off.

Caroline doesn't recognize any of these streets and she's terrified.

What if they get lost? What if they take too long get away and they get caught?

What if they get a flat tire?

 _What if…_

 _What if…_

"Where's Klaus?" she asks suddenly, turning around to the backseat and then to her mother,

"How is he getting back?"

The car comes to a stop at a yellow light that they could have driven through and Caroline's anxiety rackets up another notch.

"He'll be with his brother and Ansel," her mom tells her, looking at her from the corner of her eye as she watches a man dressed all in black jaywalk across the street as the lights go green,

"Everyone has a way to get home, baby," she promises, "They'll be fine."

She releases a breath that she hadn't realized she was even holding, "Okay."

She bites her lip so hard she tastes blood and keeps her eyes fixed on the window until they hit the highway and she starts to recognize the landmarks she must have driven past thousands of times.

They were going to Mystic Falls.

They were going _home_.

She starts as she remembers something and looks into the backseat,

"Um…everyone this is Enzo, Enzo, this is my mom, Elena and Bonnie."

Enzo relaxes slightly and smiles politely at everyone, "Nice to meet you all."

* * *

Liz walked into her house with a sigh of relief, flicking the lights on and noting with satisfaction that everything was exactly how they'd left it.

Behind her, her daughter stepped through the door cautiously, making sure of her footing before moving forward and she can't help but notice that Caroline's eyes are sweeping over the area, looking about for dangers.

It broke her heart to see her daughter acting that way.

As if she wasn't safe in her own home.

Elena and Bonnie follow hesitantly in Caroline's wake, obviously unsure of what to do now that she was home.

Liz knew that her baby girl was the nurturer of the group, the others weren't used to taking care of her when she always looked after them.

There's a shadow in the doorway and the vampire -Enzo- comes inside, his face is cautious too but mostly, he seems confused.

She's not sure what his story is, save that he had been a captive of that Society like Caroline, probably for a lot longer because his eyes keep flicking to random items in the vicinity and looking puzzled, as if he's not quite sure what they are.

His helplessness seems to shake her daughter awake.

"We'll need to set up the couch," she announces, striding to the linen closet to take out the spare duvet and pillows kept there.

"Elena, could you maybe get Stefan to bring over some of his clothes for Enzo to borrow?" she asked, her arms full and she jerked her head, indicating for Enzo to follow her into the living room, which he did with a still perplexed look on his face. Liz was feeling more or less helpless, but she was able to pull up the back cushions of the couch to provide more room as Caroline fluffed up the pillow.

"It's not great, but it'll do for the night." she says and Enzo touches the pillow as if he expected it to bite,

"I haven't seen one of these in eighty years," he murmured, "They seem bigger than I remember."

Caroline makes a face and pats him on the shoulder before freezing, her eyes wide as she stares at her fingers, " _Crap_ , I forgot!"

She turns to Bonnie, "We're going to need daylight rings," she explains in a rush, "They took ours so we couldn't escape."

Bonnie nods, clearly relieved to have something to do, "I'll head home and grab my stuff."

Elena dithers for a moment before coming to a decision, "I'll go make coffee."

Liz joins her in the kitchen as Enzo wanders over to the television set,

"I never did get this Futurist art," she hears him say.

Elena was wandering around her kitchen, getting the cups ready and putting them in the microwave.

Liz leans her hip against the bench, "Have you heard anything?" she asks quietly, hoping her daughter wont overhear.

Elena takes out her phone, "Just a quick text from Damon saying that everything's fine. And a photo of Jeremy alive- in a _bar_ ," she finishes distastefully,

"Nothing from Klaus' end."

Liz takes this in, running over the plan in her mind.

After rescuing Caroline, Klaus, Elijah and Ansel would have scoured the area, looking for any Society members or anyone suspicious who obviously recognized Klaus or was carrying any weaponry suited for vampire-hunting.

Alaric, under the pretense of needing information from Professor Shane, would drop by his house to let him know everything was fine. Damon and Stefan would be in the crowd, find Jeremy and Matt, offer them a lift home- which they had apparently done.

The check-in time wasn't for another hour but Liz was still concerned. She didn't like having Jeremy and Matt still out there- or Damon either but he would be fine, granted if things went South the coroner would probably have to drag out the old 'wild animal attack' bullshit again but that could be handled.

She wasn't sure whether or not to spare a thought for the Original hybrid.

After all, he was a serial-killing creature and her life would be a lot easier if he managed to die without taking his entire line with him.

But…

She remembered that day at the station when she and the FBI agent had found her daughter and Klaus in the hallway, the way they'd been standing so close that the sense of personal space had apparently been lost for them, Caroline had been stroking his jaw and his eyes had fluttered closed.

Liz had never experienced such a moment of gentle intimacy in her life and seeing Klaus like that, with his walls down, she'd almost seen the man instead of the monster.

A man that her daughter clearly cared for, no matter what she said.

So she didn't want him to die.

Not if it would break her daughter's heart.

* * *

 _Whitmore._

"Uh oh,"

Alaric stops and looks behind him to see Damon staring down at the ground, where his foot is still paused mid-step.

"That's not good." He mutters and Alaric braces himself, wondering if he should have left Jeremy and Matt in the car.

"What?" Stefan asks, standing next to him, "What's wrong?"

Damon points to a rock, "See that?" he asks, "That is Labradorite, witches spell that crystal and can use it to keep vampires out, it's a one-time spell with a lifetime guarantee."

Jeremy reaches them and shrugs, "Cool, so what's the problem? You two can wait here."

The look Damon gives him is positively withering, "The spell expires when the witch does, little Gilbert," he looks up to the house,

"You and Quarterback wait out here with Stefan, I don't think there's going to be any problem with me entering."

He wasn't wrong.

Nobody answered the door but it hadn't been locked, so the two of them walked in without any trouble.

And even with human senses, Alaric knew that there wasn't anybody alive in the house.

In the blue and white tiled kitchen, there was three cups sitting on the bench, Alaric leaned close and sniffed them,

"Wolfsbane," he told Damon, "Enough of it to kill a werewolf."

"Hardly what I would use to kill a human." Damon responded, "Or a witch."

They found Atticus Shane, his wife and son in the upstairs bathtub, covered in their own bodily fluids, the boy was cradled in his mother's arms.

Their bodies were still warm.

"Can't have been dead more than an hour," Damon tells him, poking Atticus with the toilet brush,

"Must have been a hell of a lot of Wolfsbane to kill non-werewolves this quick."

Alaric sees something out of the corner of his eye and turns to see two sheets of paper under the soap dish. "A suicide note," he snorts as he takes out his phone to photograph it,

"Which he wrote after poisoning wife and kid downstairs, and making them get in the tub?"

Damon shakes his head, "Yeah, this was definitely murder."

He tenses suddenly, "Which is why we should probably get out of here," he says, taking his arm and flashing him downstairs,

"Because if I was going to murder a snitch, I'd want to hang around to see whom he'd been snitching to."

He all but throws the five of them in the car and burns rubber to the nearest bar.

But it was already too late.

* * *

Klaus only just managed not to wince as the sounds of Ansel's violent retching reached him from the bushes. The poison Caroline had used to clear the house had not been kind to the alpha wolf.

Elijah, who had gone ahead to patrol the forest, comes back and grimaces at the smells attacking his refined nostrils,

"Perhaps we should get him to a hospital?" he suggests, but receives only a sardonic scoff for his proposal.

"Yes, good idea and when the doctor orders a blood test and discovers that Ansel has the DNA and whatnot that hasn't been seen in America for a thousand years?" he shrugs in annoyance,

"I offered him my blood but he refused, something about looking down on vampires."

"I do not…" Ansel choked from the bushes, "look _down_ …"

He's cut off by another bout of retching and what sounds like part of his stomach lining hitting the dirt, "But…could not _live_ as…"

"Yes, yes," Klaus interrupts, mainly so the man wouldn't keep trying to talk, breathe and vomit simultaneously,

"Considering your penchant for fighting, it is probably best you don't consume any of my blood, lest you wake up craving the next door neighbor."

Elijah sighed and adjusted his cuff links, "I received a call from Alaric," he informs him in a low voice, "Professor Shane and his entire family were murdered…poison."

Klaus frowns, "Did they know what type?"

He nods, "Wolfsbane, and given in such a high dosage that they would have died within an hour of the symptoms, there was a suicide note as well, signed by Atticus and written in such a way to suggest to the local authorities that he had lost his mind."

Ansel finally staggers from the bushes, covered in sweat and barely managing to keep himself upright,

"Enemies alive," he manages through his torn and bleeding esophagus, "Kill…"

" _Bloody hell_ ," Klaus grouses, "We're not idiots, we can connect the damn dots so will you just shut up and heal already!"

Ansel raises his eyebrows, clearly not used to being spoken to in such a manner but he doesn't respond verbally, choosing to nod instead as he massages his throat.

"Good," Klaus snarls, "Now, if some society members did survive, might I suggest we head back to Mystic Falls immediately? Circle the wagons and all that nonsense?"

Because if someone out there was looking to wipe out those with knowledge of the society, Caroline would surely be at the top of their list.

* * *

They call Damon back and drop by the bar where the Salvatore's and the humans had gathered to do damage to the bartenders' supply of mid-shelf bourbon.

"A little early for the victory celebrations," Klaus remarks drily, resting his hand on the back of Stefan's chair,

"Traditionally, one is supposed to wait until their enemies are _dead_ before breaking out the booze."

"We aren't celebrating anything," Damon drawls, "This is commiserating bourbon, traditionally- we only drink blue label when celebrating, and we wouldn't invite _you_."

Elijah clears his throat to interrupt Klaus before he has the chance to respond,

"We are leaving now." he tells them in a tone that brooks no refusal and surprisingly, Damon doesn't even offer a symbolic objection,

"Good," he throws back the rest of his drink, "We were just waiting for you three anyway," his eyes flicker over to his brother and friends,

"I didn't want to drive back without backup, considering that they grabbed Barbie on the road."

Klaus barely stops himself from asking about Caroline, she'd been more or less fine when he'd seen her a few hours ago and from the way she'd flinched when he'd gone to touch her, he figured that the game of pretense was long over.

"How is Caroline?" Ansel asks suddenly, his voice rasping and he has to wipe blood of his lip after speaking,

"Uh…she's good," Matt answers, slightly surprised, "Her mom got her and Enzo home."

" _Enzo?!_ " Damon spins on his heel, having been leading the group out the door, " _What?_ "

"Oh yeah," Stefan pipes up as he throws some money on the table and waves to the bartender,

"Turns out there was another vampire down there, been there a while according to Elena, it was why it took so long to get Caroline out of there, she refused to leave without him."

Ansel has resumed silence but manages to issue a hum of acknowledgement as they all walk across the parking lot. Klaus notices that Damon has fallen silent as well but has the look of a man who just received an unpleasant shock.

Interesting.

Perhaps he would like to meet this Enzo.

* * *

"I'll be fine, mom," Caroline promised as she grabbed her car keys,

"There's just some stuff I have to take care of."

Liz crossed her arms and huffed, "It's not even six am and you've been up all night!" she protested,

"Whatever it is can wait until you've had some more sleep?"

At her insistence, Caroline had showered and gone to bed the moment Bonnie had finished spelling her and Enzo two pieces of daylight jewellery.

She had slipped beneath the blanket, closed her eyes and lain there.

Five minutes later, Elena and Bonnie had stuck their heads in, found her silently weeping and had slid in on either side of her.

Exhaustion had overtaken them both but Caroline had continued to lie on her back and stare up at the ceiling, her fingers tangled into the sheets beneath her and her ears straining for any sound of attack.

For two hours there had only been her mother's steady breathing and the huffs and growls of Enzo as he tried to accommodate himself on the couch and then eventually gave up and moved to the hardwood floor, which had seemed to do the trick and he'd fallen to sleep moments later.

Caroline envied him.

She'd lain on her back until she'd freaked out that it was too much like laying in a coffin and then turned onto her stomach, burying her face in her pillow and just waiting for the first bird song of the day when she could get up and start moving without everyone wanting to know what was wrong.

Unfortunately, when she'd tried sneaking out of the house, it was to find her mother suddenly coming out of her bedroom, wide awake and wanting to know where exactly she was going at that hour of the morning.

And clearly, Liz was not happy about the idea of her daughter going out alone.

"Uh sweetie," Liz glances down at the keys, "Your car is currently in the wrecking yard, in _pieces_."

Oh right.

Caroline had forgotten about crashing her car.

She sighs, "Okay, guess I'll walk."

Enzo comes out of the living room, wearing the Henley and jeans that Elena had brought over from Stefan.

"I'll go with her," he says, turning to her mom, "I've fought two world wars, been a vampire for over one hundred years, I can escort Caroline where she needs to go."

Liz doesn't look convinced, which is why the still half-asleep Elena and Bonnie end up trudging along beside her as they slowly make their way through the streets of Mystic Falls at human-speed.

"Where are we going?" Elena yawns, "This isn't the way to…"

She grumbles as Bonnie veers suddenly and steps on her foot,

"So…Enzo," Bonnie smiles at him, "Tell us about yourself?"

He shrugs, "Not much to tell, Enzo is short for Lorenzo, I was dying of consumption when a vampire named Liliana turned me in 1903, but she was gone before I could thank her. I was captured in Eastern Europe by Dr Whitmore during World War Two and I'd been held in that house until yesterday."

He reaches over and takes Caroline's hand, lifting it up to his lips to kiss the knuckles,

"Thank-you again, gorgeous."

She smirks, "Stop flirting or your first free meal is going to be McDonald's."

His confusion distracts Bonnie and Elena, who spend the next twenty minutes describing modern American cuisine to Enzo, who peppers them with questions and frequently accusing them of lying to him, disbelieving most of what they tell him and she wishes she could drop them off at the Grill so he could have breakfast but it wouldn't be open for another three hours and he probably wouldn't be leaving her side anyway.

Which mightn't be a bad thing.

For her first task of the day anyway.

Bonnie and Elena are clearly surprised when they realize that she was headed to Tyler's house but both of them keep quiet, and when she's walking through the front door- which Carol had never bothered locking- her three escorts stay outside.

The pristine white foyer is the same as its always been and Caroline takes a moment to revel in the normality before she hears someone whisper her name.

Hayley wanders out of the T.V room wearing one of Tyler's t-shirts and surprises Caroline with a hug,

"The _hell_?" the girl mutters, "I just heard what happened, are you okay?"

Caroline grins, "Um…yeah, weirdly enough, I have really good coping mechanisms for kidnap and torture sessions- which is kinda sad."

Hayley snickers at her humour and jerks her head to the stairs, "Tyler's still asleep and mommy dearest only woke up long enough to glare at me for using the coffee machine before passing out again. Also, why does all the creamer here have vervein in it?"

"Because Carol is a massive bitch," Caroline deadpans, "Who hates all the girls her son sleeps with."

"Urgh," Hayley made a face, "Glad I'm camped out in the guest room then."

Caroline manages not to let the surprise show on her face and starts backing away, "I need to talk to Tyler, I'll uh see you later."

Her foot is on the first step before she pivots, "Hey, you said you just found out about everything," she said, "Who told you?"

"Oh, Klaus texted me," she explained, "Turns out the birthmark on my back- which I don't think you've seen, it's a crescent moon…anyway, it's the mark of a werewolf pack in New Orleans, some guy named Ansel told him I was a Crescent Wolf, so he suggested I head down there to look for my family. Also, he offered me one of his cars, so saving your ass that night was a really good decision on my part."

She finishes her dialogue with an excited expression and she's clearly looking to make tracks out of town so Caroline smiles, "Good luck."

"Thanks."

* * *

They must have woken up Tyler because when Caroline knocked on his bedroom door- for the first time ever- and which he opened for her, he's sitting on his bed fully dressed.

He's glaring down at his knees but when he looks up at her, she can see relief in his eyes,

"Elena texted me last night," he says through gritted teeth, "If I'd known, I would have gone to get you out myself."

"And probably wound up in the cell next to me," she sighs, "The guys who took me were organized, like freakishly organized and…"

It had been on the tip of her tongue to tell him about Grayson but she stopped herself in time.

Tyler doesn't notice her sudden silence though, he's staring at the bracelet on her wrist,

"Why are you wearing that _thing_?" he snaps, and she reaches for the piece of jewellery, brushing her thumb over the diamonds,

"Because my daylight ring was stolen and I needed Bonnie to spell something so I wouldn't burst into flame when I stepped outside today."

"And that was the only thing you had on-hand?!" he demands, "The present _Klaus_ gave you?"

"Seriously, Ty?" she seethes, "In the last three days I've been imprisoned in two different cells, had to blow up one, make a chemical weapon from world war one in another, crashed my car, been kidnapped, drained of most of my blood and had various other things done to me which all sucked. So, I'm sorry if in my exhausted state I grabbed the first piece of jewellery I could find, which just happened to be my birthday present from Klaus."

She finishes her rant and takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she exhaled. She opens her eyes and plans to apologize but Tyler's looking at her with an awareness that makes her skin itch.

"How long have you been with him?" he asks, not angrily but sadly and her shoulders drop as she realizes that she won't be able to hide it anymore.

"I never meant to hurt you," she murmured, "I…"

"How _long_ , Care?" he interrupts, standing up and she steps back instinctively,

"I kissed him when we were still together," she admits, "But after I did, I broke up with you immediately, because…I didn't want to cheat on you."

Her words sound weak even to her and he takes a step forward, ducking his head to look into her eyes, "So, did you even wait a day after we broke up or did you go running to him?"

She wants to lie, wants to salvage her dignity, reputation and Tyler's heart but she suspects that even if she did lie, Klaus wouldn't bother, he'd tell the truth to anyone who asked because he didn't care enough to spare their feelings.

So she shakes her head and her ex-boyfriend and her first real love scoffs in disgust, turning away from her and her heart breaks,

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, wringing her hands as he paces the length of his bedroom and props himself against the windowsill,

"I don't know why I'm attracted to Klaus and a part of me hates that I am but I can't…" she swallows and finishes as best she can,

"I can't resist him."

Tyler flinches as if her words had been a physical blow,

"I don't want to hear this," he says, "I don't want to hear you, and I'm not going to forgive you and give you my blessing to go screw the guy who rained down hell on this town for the last year. He's a monster and you wanting him makes you no better than him. So you can go to hell, which is probably at the foot of his bed."

Tears sting her eyes and she tries again, "Tyler, I'm sorry."

"Get out before I throw you out." He growls and, like a coward, she fled.

* * *

She wipes her eyes and tries to pull herself together as she walks out of Tyler's house.

Bonnie and Elena are sitting on the lawn beside Enzo who is pulling up blades of grass and rubbing them between his fingers. He has such a look of wonder on his face that Caroline manages to find a part of her that can feel sheer joy that she was the reason behind this.

Because of her, this man was free for the first time in eighty years and able to feel grass beneath his hands again.

She wasn't a _total_ monster.

Speaking of which.

She clears her throat as she approaches and the three of them look up, "Um…I need to go..."

She doesn't have a suitable lie, "I have to go talk to Klaus." She admits and waits for the anger, the judgement, the disgust.

Instead, Bonnie nods, "Kay, well, Elena and I are hungry and Enzo here could probably use some blood so we're gonna head on over to the Boarding House, you can meet us after?"

Wait, _what?_

She quickly wonders if there's a new Klaus in town, one that isn't the Original hybrid and they think she means him, or if they've misheard her but they continue looking at her calmly.

Too calmly.

She realizes that Bonnie and Elena are deliberately not calling her on her action and flounders as she tries to figure out why.

Elena quickly puts her out of her misery, "We love you, Care," she sighs, "So, we might not like whatever is going on between you and Klaus but we can trust you to make the right decision about it."

Well, that was as much as she was going to get from her friends and after Tyler's response, she was going to take it and run with it.

"Thanks," she tells them, "Seriously, it means a lot."

* * *

Caroline's resolve must have faltered three or four times before she reached the Mikaelson mansion, but somehow, she managed to keep walking right up to the front door.

Which was locked.

For some weird reason.

She tried opening it two or three times just to make sure but, nope, definitely locked.

So what should she do?

What was the Mikaelson policy on break-ins?

Fortunately, she doesn't have to find out because just as she's about to turn around to try a back or side door, she hears Klaus' voice,

"About _bloody time!_ " he shouts, "There be a damn good reason you…"

He rips the door open, his face contorted in fury and she skitters back but he freezes upon seeing her,

"Oh," he utters, "It's you."

She grimaces, "Disappointed?"

He swallows, "Ansel wandered off without telling anybody or leaving a note," he explains, automatically stepping aside and opening the door to let her in,

"Granted he wouldn't know how to read or write and his actions are acceptable by tenth century standards but…"

"You're still worried," Caroline finishes for him, "Especially considering everything that happened."

Klaus smirks, "Well, here's hoping he lives up to the legends of his day."

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, noticing that she's still standing in the foyer, "I could call my mom?" she offers, "Have a bolo put out on him?"

He snorts at the idea, and shakes his head, "It's supposed to rain later, I'm sure that will bring him in."

His eyes still flicker to the window and his arms are crossed and she feels so much like an intruder that she nearly mutters some excuse to leave before remembering that she's Caroline Forbes and she's not a coward.

And after a minute more of silence between them she loses her patience,

" _Seriously?!_ " she sighs, "You're not going to offer me a drink? Somewhere to sit? I came here to talk to you, Klaus!"

He fixes his gaze on her but has the stubborn expression on his face,

"Forgive me for my lack of hospitality, sweetheart," he sneers,

"Surely my contributions to your rescue last night count in my favour?"

She stomps her foot and points accusingly at him,

" _No,_ " she says firmly, "I am not letting you sabotage this because of your fear of letting anybody close, we are going to talk if I have to stand here like an unwelcome guest for the rest of the day!"

His eyes flash in anger and she braces herself but he regains control and gestures,

"Come love, can I get you anything? Lemonade? Iced Tea? Arsenic?"

She rolls her eyes but follows him to the front parlour, remembering the last time she'd been on that couch, the way Klaus had held her…

"Do you have any bagged blood?" she asks, "I haven't really fed since getting free and I'm really starting to feel the kill-innocent-people urges."

He seems surprised but nods and flashes out of the room, giving Caroline the chance to sit down and try to arrange herself. She crosses her legs a few times before giving up and leaning against the seat, but she straightens up quickly when she realises just how close she is to falling asleep.

Klaus returns with two tumblers of blood, "You're in luck," he tells her as she drains it and he hands her the other,

"Elijah started keeping blood bags around after seeing the look of horror on the doppelganger's face after she realized that he was a live-feeder."

The blood tastes divine in her mouth and coats the back of her throat in a soothing manner. She finds herself hungry for more and for an instant, eyes Klaus' veins thoughtfully before shaking herself out of the reverie.

She's not sure where to start but Klaus' eyes have landed on her bracelet and she runs her thumb across it,

"The society took Enzo and my daylight rings," she explains, "And last night, when Bonnie was getting ready to make me a new one, I was going through my jewellery and found this and…I know I won't be able to wear it all the time, I'll need a ring as well, but this…it makes me feel safe."

His lips part slightly in shock as he sits down on the couch and there's still physical and emotional distance between them but now, Caroline thinks that she has a chance of closing it.

"Tyler lied to you," she reveals, "He'd figured out that you and I were seeing each other and lashed out, and he was kind of right to do so because I was selfish when I broke up with him and I wasn't thinking, I just threw myself at you- and I don't regret that- I just hate that I hurt him. Also, all my friends and possibly my mom knows that we're together now, but they all seem remarkably okay with it? I'm not entirely sure if it's because they love and trust me to make smart decisions or if I'm getting the you-could-have-died leeway but I'm going to go with it for as long as I can."

She's ranting and can't quite stop herself but Klaus doesn't seem to want to stop her and she wonders if she could maybe just talk all their issues away?

"I'm angry that you didn't immediately trust me, that you didn't think to question what Tyler was saying," she admits, "But considering how many times we've played you in the past, I kinda get why you thought he was telling the truth, but if you're willing to give this a try, give _us_ a try then…maybe we could have a start over? Or just go upstairs and try teasing each other again?"

He chuckles and that and she smirks, glad that she's got a response and a positive response as well, she clears her throat and Klaus finally gets the hint that he's supposed to step in and do his own bit of talking. He shifts in the seat, turning his body towards hers and reaches over, brushing her hair back from her face,

"First, will you forgive me for the hurtful things I said to you that night?" he asks, stroking her hair and she leans in to his touch,

"This time," she whispers, "But if you lash out at me every time you feel vulnerable, I _will_ leave, because I won't be in an abusive relationship."

He accepts this and moves closer, his hand lowering to the back of her neck, massaging it gently and she resists the urge to moan- barely,

"And will you accept me as I am or try to force me to change?"

"Accept you," she murmurs, tilting her head back against his hand, "But that doesn't give you the licence to be an asshole- _especially_ to my friends."

He shifts even closer and Caroline's body is suddenly very aware of this fact, he lowers his head and she thinks he's going to kiss her and her skin is tingling but his lips stop just short of hers,

"And will you let me take you to bed and do exceptionally wicked things to you?" he asks and she grins,

"Nope," she answers and his brow furrows adorably in confusion, "Bed is too far and the house is empty," she explains,

"You want me, we're doing this on the couch."

He shrugs, "I can work with that."

She places the tumblers on the floor and turns back to him eagerly, taking his shirt in her hands as he grabs her around the waist and pulls her into his lap, she squeaks but enjoys her new position when she grinds against his thigh and gets an immediate response.

He pulls her closer with a growl and kisses her passionately, their tongues colliding as their hands began running over each other, they break apart so Caroline can get Klaus' shirt off his body, his raises his arms to help her and groans when she lunges at his neck, kissing and nipping at the flesh before trailing down to his chest. She grazes along his pec teasingly and laughs when he tosses her onto her back and climbs over her, "Anything that needs to be saved?" he asked and she smirks,

"I'll need something to walk home in."

He gives a long-suffering sigh but removes her top and somehow her bra with a skill and speed that has her blinking in surprise, "Um…how?"

He grins, "I was turned when I was twenty-one, sweetheart, there isn't a single item of female clothing I can't remove in two seconds with minimal assistance."

She laughs and brings him down for another kiss, humming with delight and arching her body up against his, desire is pooling between her thighs and she parts them to let him settle between them, grinding their denim clad parts together and she hisses at the delightful sensation.

His hand trails along the waist band of her jeans and pops the button, lowers the zip teasingly slowly and he slips two fingers inside just as Ansel and Elijah storm into the house.

Caroline shrieks and kicks Klaus off of her, sending him tumbling backwards on the couch as she grabs a shirt and pulls it over her body, back to front and inside out but as long as she's covered she doesn't care.

Klaus looks to his father and sibling with terrifying fury on his face,

"There had better be four horsemen riding around town right this bloody second or so help me…"

"Niklaus," Ansel interrupts him, "The doppelganger has been taken."

* * *

A/N- And my no sex streak continues!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N- Hiya!  
Huge shoutout and love to everyone who voted for me in the Klaroline Awards of 2016. I won Best Angst Author!  
But in the spirit of not being a total bitch (for once) I've finished Bad People and thought I might try this crazy new thing of finishing my stories before starting on new ones, hence the reason this has been updated but others haven't.  
I want to thank everyone for reading this story and all your reviews and love, I love how much focus and attention a lot of you have paid to the story and those who have critiqued it in a way to make me a better author.

* * *

 _Epilogue._

 _Three months later._

"Sweetheart," Klaus tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Are you _quite_ sure that this is what you want?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and didn't even look up from the textbook on her lap, "Yep."

There's a slight squeak as Klaus sucks in his bottom lip and bites down, clearly struggling to resist the urge to argue as Caroline bites her cheek to try and stop herself from laughing.

Dating her had apparently been a steep learning curve for the Original Hybrid, who'd had to figure out damn quick that he couldn't have his way all the time just because it was what he'd been used to.

So, instead of just flat out asking what was wrong with her, or declaring that they weren't going to do something, he'd discovered the tactic of phrasing the question so that it sounded like it was her decision and that any change would be what she wanted.

Caroline saw through that tactic as clear as day but he was making the effort and it worked in her favor so who was she to call him on it?

He sits beside her at the dining table where she had parked herself for the study day.

In front of her is every last textbook, class notes, practice exams and study card she would need to ace her history final.

Klaus usually kept his distance when she was studying because he tended to distract her, but he had dropped by with an extra-large coffee for her on his way to try and figure out where Ansel had wandered off to without his phone this time.

Also, to discuss the holiday they would be taking after graduation.

"You know," he began, as if just mentioning the weather,  
"Paris is beautiful this time of year."

"Uh huh." she marks down the date for the Wall Street Crash and wonders if she'll have to go in depth about the cause and effects.

"And I know you'd love the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees…"

His finger trailed down her cheek, along her neck and played with the strap of her shoulder and she had to concentrate on dispelling the image of his finger slipping lower.

 _Much lower_.

"Oh I would love to see all those things," she agreed, moving away from his touch and grabbing one of her highlighters,

"And I bet you would be an amazing tour guide."

He has a little smirk on his face that betrays his satisfaction, he thinks he's winning the argument,

"Is there anything in particular you want to see in Miami, love?" he inquires, clearly hoping to hit the target.

"Nope," she says, her lips popping on the p, "Not a single thing."

Klaus flounders for a moment and Caroline finds him absolutely adorable when he's confused, which is maybe why she strings him along like this,

"So…" he's clearly trying to find a polite way of asking what the hell she's thinking,

"Why do you want to go to Miami?"

She checks the time on her phone, sees that she was about due for a break anyway and puts the textbook down, turning to him with an exasperated but loving grin,

"Because," she begins with a tone of faux-innocence, "If we go someplace where there's absolutely nothing to see, then we won't have a single reason to leave our hotel room."

And _ding_ goes the metaphorical light bulb over Klaus' head.

His eyes light up and then darken with lust.

"You are a genius," he tells her in a low voice, husky with need and her clothes are suddenly feeling tight and very unnecessary.

"Definitely the brains in this relationship."

She chuckles, "Stop with the flattery, buster,"

She hoists herself up onto the table and shifts over so that he's sitting between her legs,

"Because you are _definitely_ going to be getting laid."

His eyes drop from hers to the juncture of her thighs and he runs his hand up her legging clad legs,

"Talk to me about these holiday plans of yours, sweetheart." He suggests as he palms her center through the cotton and she presses against his hand,

"Well," she drawls as he stands up, looming over her and tucking her legs behind his back as he starts hunting under her dress for the waistband of her leggings,

"I have this _tiny_ little two-piece bikini but I don't really like tan lines, so I should probably sunbathe naked…"

"I'll get us a private villa with its own swimming pool," he promises as his hand slips past her panties and his index finger searches for her clit, brushing against it and she bites her lip, gripping the edge of the table,

"And…I'll be _really_ tired from graduating so, I'll definitely need to spend the first few days in bed…but I'm sure I can think of something to do so you don't get bored."

He grins and slips a finger inside her, his eyelids fluttering when he realizes how wet she is,

"I already have one or two ideas," He murmurs, bringing his lips close to hers and she playfully snaps her teeth, before letting him kiss her deeply and languidly, he slips a second finger inside of her, searching for her g-spot and she bucks against his hand,

"A few activities that can be done in a bed, or around the bedroom, in any case, you'll be on your back."

"And you?" she asks, her breath coming in pants as he begins thrusting his fingers into her faster, "Where will you be?"

He smirked and she arched her hips off the table, whimpering as he brought her to the edge,

"Between your thighs," he growls, "In fact, I don't see any reason why I should spend the holiday doing anything that doesn't involve treating you like the Bad Girl you are."

She is so close and the memory of the first time he'd called her a bad girl, followed by the many, many other times has her tipping ov…

"Big Brother!"

 _Seriously?!_

 _Annnnnd_ it's gone.

She releases a haggard breath, nearly bursting into tears as Klaus withdraws his fingers and grabs the wet wipes Caroline had nabbed a shipment of from a nearby pizza place and kept on hand for situations such as these.

Three months ago, Bonnie had undone the curse she'd unintentionally put on Klaus- reluctantly, but everyone in Mystic Falls had pretty quickly realized that if there was still a threat out there, they wanted him at full power- but Caroline had since asked her to double and triple check that she hadn't also accidentally put some kind of cockblocking curse on him as well.

Because every single time- without fail- that she and Klaus started fooling around, they were interrupted.

The first time had been Elijah and Ansel coming to announce that Katherine Pierce had been kidnapped from a nearby B&B, clear signs of a struggle and, that it had probably happened the same night Caroline had escaped the Society so it wasn't some weird coincidence.

The second time had been two days later when Hayley had returned from New Orleans with a pack of werewolves cursed in wolf form and she'd asked Klaus if she could keep them in town til they figured out a way to get them back to humans.

Then Ansel had cockblocked them the next three times because he was pissed that the ancient enemies of his pack were wandering around on his territory and, if Klaus wasn't going to understand the significance of that, then he was damn sure not going to get any peace while it was happening.

At this point, Caroline had found them a nearby B&B- not the one Katherine had been kidnapped from- they'd gone there for the weekend and not even got out of the car before Klaus had practically been jumped by a vampire who turned out to be his presumed dead foster son- who was on the run with an underage witch who had been slated for sacrifice by her psychotic coven.

From there, the situations had grown more and more ridiculous- to the point where Caroline was about to say screw it, throw her boyfriend onto the nearest flat surface and proceed to bone him and anyone who walked in on them could just stay and watch the show.

Honestly, the only reason she and Klaus were taking this 'graduation present/holiday' was because even Bonnie was starting to say that they were overdue for sex.

And now, Rebekah had just swanned into the Salvatore Boarding House- apparently with Elena, Bonnie and…yep, the whole crew was with her.

"Where are you, you complete and utter arse?" the accented voice trills as Klaus takes a swig of Caroline's coffee, clearly forgetting that it wasn't bourbon,

"In here, bane of my existence." He calls, as Caroline slides off the table and runs a hand through her hair.

Rebekah swans into the room like a model on a runway, her hands on her hips and lip curled in disgust but Caroline looks past her to her friends, Elena, Bonnie, Stefan and Matt,

"Hey guys," she checks her phone, "I thought we were meant to meet here this morning to study?"

Matt coughs and scratches the back of his head, glancing down at the floor, "Yeah…um…Elena needed help moving some stuff in her attic…"

"Oh please," Rebekah interrupts, "Elena tried to stop me coming in claiming that you two were probably having sex, really Nik- is this girl so cheap you can't even shag her on your own dining room table?"

Wow, their situation was so desperate, it had got to the point that _Elena_ was trying to get them some sexy-alone time.

Thankfully, graduation was only a few weeks away.

Provided some disaster didn't rain down on their heads between now and when they got on the plane to Miami.

Which- at the rate they were going, would probably somehow crash and land them stranded on a deserted island somewhere.

Actually- that would probably be the best thing for everyone.

Because Klaus is currently glaring at his sister like he's already imagining sliding the silver dagger into her body, but Ansel had commandeered those daggers and hidden them somewhere along with the white oak ash after Klaus had offered to let the Crescent Wolves into his home when they turned human on the full moon.

"Is there a reason you returned to town, little sister?" he asked, gripping the back of the chair hard enough that his knuckles turned white,

"Other than to vex me of course?"

Rebekah sniffed disdainfully and turned on her heel, making a straight path for the wet bar that Damon usually defended with his life but he was off somewhere, probably getting punched senseless by the still kind of resentful Enzo.

So nobody stops her as she pours herself some of Damon's second-best bourbon, the first best being hidden in a safe in his wardrobe, and poses, waiting for everyone to file in and give her their full attention. Caroline stands beside Klaus and runs her fingers down his arm to take his hand, pointedly ignoring how most eyes in the room flicked to them and then quickly away in the hopes that she wouldn't notice.

She did.

But she was trying to get her friends used to seeing her being physically affectionate and coupley with Klaus, who drew the line at hand holding in Mystic Falls because he had an image to maintain and walking around town gooey-eyed and joined at the hip wasn't really his thing anyway.

Rebekah's eyebrows raise slightly at the act but she swallows her bourbon,

"First," she declares, "You need to tell me what I've missed while I've been away."

* * *

 _Three weeks later._

" _Seriously?!_ " Caroline laughed as the car pulled onto the tarmac of the private airfield in Richmond,

"Klaus this is ridiculous, it's like a two-hour flight!"

Klaus Mikaelson rolled his eyes and Caroline had to bite her lip and turn her face away quickly because he'd picked up that trait from her and it was absolutely adorable.

"Sweetheart, you've seen me interact with normal people, did you really think I was going to sit in a confined space with them for a hundred and thirty minutes with you there enforcing a no-killing policy?"

She accepts that he's completely right this one time and scrambles out of the car, admiring the sophisticated image of the jet before going to reach for her suitcase to find that the flight attendant was already carrying both sets of luggage onto the plane.

She feels a little awkward about that, she can carry her own luggage thank-you very much, but she figures that anyone who worked for the Mikaelson family was probably getting paid a ridiculous amount to ensure that the only thing they ever had to carry was their own alcohol.

At least Klaus had come to pick her up in his own car, which he'd driven himself, because she thinks her mom probably wouldn't have liked to have seen a chauffeur behind the wheel.

She hadn't even liked the idea of Caroline going to Miami in the first place but she'd agreed that it couldn't be half as dangerous as Mystic Falls and that, at eighteen and having been sexually active for two years, Caroline could make her own decisions.

It had been three months since she and Klaus had started 'officially-out-in-the-open' dating and generally, he and her mom had an unspoken mutual agreement to stay out of each other's way and if they couldn't manage that- they'd settle for awkward small talk until Caroline rescued them both.

Caroline steps into the jet and admires the caramel leather seats, there's a small couch and a minibar, and four seats around a table with a flat screen television in the corner.

She sits on the couch and Klaus disappears into the cockpit, a flight attendant appears silently in front of her with a flute of pink champagne on a silver tray and it might only be ten in the morning but she's on holiday so she takes it with a smile and waits for her boyfriend to reemerge.

When he does, draining his own flute, she notices that he has a very determined look in his eye and her mouth feels dry so she sips her champagne and tries not to blush as he sits very close beside her, the length of their bodies pressed together.

The cabin door slams shut and she jumps, startled by the noise as the engines whir and the jet begins to slowly move.

Klaus' eyes haven't left her face and she bites her lip as her eyes dart to the window behind them, to the airfield, with the green lawns, the silver buildings and the black tarmac.

"I've never been on a plane before," she tells him, "I want to watch it take off."

He shrugs as if it makes no difference to him, he clearly has a plan that he's going to stick to at all costs. "Go ahead, sweetheart."

She twists the upper half of her body to look out the window, her t-shirt riding up slightly to expose an inch of her stomach and she isn't surprised in the slightest when his finger runs along her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake and his hand cups her hip, squeezing slightly.

The jet is moving faster, bumping slightly and beginning to tilt, the wheels leave the ground as Klaus bends forward, his lips finding her neck and he tugs her t-shirt to expose her shoulder, she squirms and tries to keep her eyes on the sky as they ascend, as his teeth pull on her bra strap and he moves behind her to his knees, one leg on either side of hers and he runs his hands up and down her back, to her shoulders, massaging them as they approach the clouds and then unhooking her bra through her t-shirt.

Her trembling hand holds onto the window as he palms her breasts, pushing the cups up out of the way and she reaches behind her blindly to find his belt and pull him closer to her so she can feel his erection straining against the denim of his jeans.  
He pushes against her and she feels her arousal dampen her thong, her body hot and flushed as they soar through the clouds, so much endless white cotton until they break out above them, the sun proudly before them in a sea of blue and an endless blindingly white field that she would give her life to be able to walk across. She closes her eyes against the glare of the sun and waits until she can open them again before giving the view the admiration it was due.

Or all the admiration she can manage when her mind is on the man behind her who's unbuttoned her mini shorts and found the ties of her thong, releasing them with a flick of his fingers.

"They're all compelled not to hear us, right?" she asks as she turns her head to look at him over her shoulder and he smirks,

"They won't be able to see or hear a thing." He promises, his eyes dropping from hers to her shorts as he pushes them down her thighs, with her lifting her hips to help him and he licks his lips as he slides his hand down, searching for her center and growling when he finds her dripping with lust.

"Sweetheart," he breathes into her hair and she wraps an arm around his neck, arching as he pushes two fingers inside her and she feels hot, heavy and unbelievably fragile all at once.

"I need you," Klaus groans as his fingers move faster inside her, pumping and circling and she whimpers as the pleasure runs up and down her body.

"I _have_ to have you, now!"

His fingers are pulled out of her and she shouts at the loss, but she's falling and finds herself lying back on the leather couch, her head on the arm rest and all that exists in the space is the surface below her, her body- flushed, sensitive and yearning for pleasure-, and Klaus above her.

He starts at her feet, pulling off her sandals and tossing them somewhere, her shorts are next and he tugs them down her smooth legs, exposing her and his eyes flash at the sight of her soaked pussy, he licks his lips and she parts her thighs, lifting one foot to rest on the back of the couch so she can spread herself for him and he releases a ragged sigh.

She holds her arms up so he can work her t-shirt off and her bra comes off with it, tangled up in the fabric and when she's naked she pulls him down to her, kissing him hungrily, passionately and demandingly.

He's rubbing his crotch against her and she loves the sensation of denim against her flushed thighs. He pulls away from her lips with a satisfied smile and darts to her breasts, licking and sucking them as her hand runs through his curls,

"Klaus, get your clothes off," she gasps as he continues thrusting against her pussy, and he mumbles around her breast but she kicks the back of his knee with the leg she has on the couch seats, " _Now!_ "

His hands reach down to his belt and she growls with impatience, hoping their suitcases are nearby as she takes his shirt in her hands and tears it, ending up with two strips of fabric that can go to hell but end up on top of the minibar. She uses her foot to shove his jeans down, the belt buckle scratching her thigh with a delicious sting of pain and he kicks off his shoes and socks, allowing his jeans to follow and she admires the curves of his ass before he pushes himself up.

"Happy, love?" he asks, kneeling before her and she props herself up on her arms and tries to swallow as he renders her breathless.

He is so beautiful.

His lean body, kissed golden by the sun with black ink drawn in elaborate tattoos. His hard stomach with the hint of hairs, the color of wheat that led down to his cock, standing erect and leaking pre-cum. She rubs a thumb across the tip and brings it to her mouth, tasting him and her eyes flicker closed at his salty sweetness. He groans and puts his hands on her thighs, pulling her across and closer to him,

"Caroline," he says her name like a prayer, barely able to speak, trembling with the effort of holding himself back.

"Sweetheart, I can't wait…"

She nods eagerly, understanding his impatience and holding her hips up, " _Now._ "

He guides himself to her pussy and when his tip touches her folds she is shaking with lust,

"Klaus…" she whimpers, pleading and he slams himself into her in one thrust and her head drops back as she finally feels his cock inside her, he fits perfectly and when he begins to withdraw she misses him. She pulls her foot down from the back of the couch and wraps both legs around him, pushing herself up so that her arms are around his shoulders and he slides his hands up her back, lifting her and positioning himself on his knees and sitting her on his lip.

She sinks down onto his cock and groans at the wonderful sensation, he's waiting for her, shaking with the effort of holding himself still and she kisses his cheek, leaning back so he can see her face, she smiles and he puts his hands on her hips, lifting her and she begins riding his cock, meeting his thrusts and setting the hard and fast pace.

They've waited too long for this and now that it's finally happened they can't contain themselves, their moves are frantic, selfish, messy, chasing their pleasure and the hell with anything else. When she feels the coiling in her stomach, when it begins to feel like she's about to explode, she pushes Klaus onto his back, positioning him so that his cock will rub against her g-spot and controlling the movements, her breath coming in sobs as she finds the right pace, her clit rubbing against his pelvic bone as she chases her orgasm.

Klaus puts his hands on her breasts, teasing the nipples as her walls clamp around him and she shouts, burying her face in his neck as she falls apart and he waits until she's trembling with the aftershocks before he rolls her onto her back and finds his own completion, while she strokes his chest tenderly, humming contentedly when he comes inside her in long, hot bursts and sinks onto her, his body a wonderful weight pressing down on her as his breath comes in warm pants against her hair. They're slick with sweat and she trails a finger across his shoulder blade as his cock slips out of her and their juices slip down her thighs and onto the leather.

" _Finally,_ " she whispers and he chuckles, "God that was _so_ much better than talking."

He mumbles in agreement and shifts against her slightly, "Am I crushing you?" he asks and she shakes her head, which is about as much movement as her brain can manage to order at the moment.

"Don't even think about moving," she mumbles, "We've about another hour to go on this flight and I'm not going to be a one-time member of the mile-high club."

* * *

Seventy-three minutes later, Klaus Mikaelson is wearing the Cheshire cat grin on his face as he lets Caroline lead him through the airport, their hands linked as she sets a no-nonsense pace that is completely at odds from the holiday stroll that most of the people around them are going at.

But despite nearly two hours of sex, and ten minutes in the jet shower when Caroline had insisted on cleaning up and having Klaus eat her out at the same time, they were apparently just getting started.

Thankfully, Klaus had ordered a pink limo- garish but he'd figured Caroline would like it- and it was waiting for them in the parking bay. He hadn't told his girlfriend this, but either she knew him well enough or simply didn't care because he has to hurry to keep up with her and they're moving so fast a security guard approaches, clearly concerned but the scent of sex is still heavy on them and the guard picks up on this, sees the look in Caroline's eyes and backs off again.

Smart move on their part.

Somehow, Caroline manages to smile at the driver and make small talk that is polite but lacking her usual charm and enthusiasm as Klaus vaguely remembers that they'd forgotten to take their luggage and sends a quick text ordering it to be delivered to the villa. He barely presses send before he finds himself being pushed into the backseat of the limo, with the door slamming shut after Caroline.

He hadn't realized that the interior of the limo would be hot pink as well, with seats that were curved and a disco light and his lip curls in automatic distaste before his artistic opinions are kissed away and his ability to remember the names of any colors follows quickly as Caroline's hand delves into his jeans and begins stroking his cock back into service.

This was going to be a great holiday.

* * *

A/N- Happy reading. And for the absolute best smut, check out onyourkneescaroline on tumblr for Angelikah's nsfw drabbles that I use for inspiration.


End file.
